Bored Servants for the time to come Exod. 21. Nor was there any hope of Freedom afterward No marvel then if the poor Woman cryed Clamavit mulier There is a saying Curae Leves loquuntur ingentes stupent Light Sorrows speak when greater silent are And it might seem then somewhat to lessen her Sorrow that she could and did Cry 'T is true In some sudden and unexpected Misery Vox faucibus haeret the unexpectedness and greatness of Sorrow doth stop the Floud-gates and there are found those who could neither weep nor speak for a while But violent Motions are not lasting and the thickest Cloud will be broken and the Rain will fall Tears and Words will find vent Tell me ye Mothers tell me what you would do if you should see the merciless Officer or Souldier seizing on your Child for his prey if but one Child But Vtrumque Filium Both All and All without hope of Redemption Not one left to comfort the poor Mother in her Calamity Me thinks I see Rebecka's swoln heart ready to break Gen. 27. when she counsels Jacob to fly from the fury of his Brother Esau who had sworn his Death O why should I be deprived of both of you in one day And that witty Complaint of the Woman of Tekoa did pierce Davids heart Thy Hand-maid had two Sons they strove they fought and one is slain The Kinred call for Justice and lo they 'l quench my Coal which is left O King without thy help and pardon I shall be deprived of them both Here 's a widow a poor widow deprived of her best Comfort and now like to be robbed of her Children also Well might she have borrowed Jerusalem's mournful Complaint out of Jeremy O ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow Let Fathers speak who exeunt hominem leave off to be men if they leave off natural affection Let Mothers speak if Schools distinguish right their Love is more fervent though the Fathers love be more constant Let all those speak who are so much troubled at every common Cross Loss or Affliction What would they say if Mephibosheth must loose all If they must go hand in hand with Job If with this poor widow Goods and Children and All must be lost and for ought they know without the hope of any Jubile or Restitution Here we may see the affection of Parents towards their Children How many years doth Jacob lament the supposed death of his beloved Joseph How bitterly doth David bewail the untimely death of his ungracious Absolon Anna calls young Toby sorrowing for his Departure the Staff of her old Age the Staff in her hand that she went by Stories will tell you of some Fathers that have given their own eyes to save their Sons of those who have resigned their Crowns their Loves their Lives and all to do their Children good I will add but one Example more though of many in that one in the third Punick War when the choicest young Noble-men were sent away Hostages into Sicily The Mothers accompany them to the Ship with all expressions of sorrow Thence they get up the top of the Rocks and at their going out of sight the Mothers many of them cast themselves head-long into the Sea A sad farewel Yet were their Sons sent away for Hostages and not taken away for Slaves And thus doth Love descend in a full carrier from the Parents to the Children But I fear the Motion is very slow in rising upward from the Children to the Parents Sure this Motion is against the Hill we pause too often The Poet said true Filius ante diem And many say in their hearts what Esau did Gen. 27.41 The dayes of mourning for my Father are at hand He cannot live long And then a sad Suit and a merry heart But beware of that Lex talionis As sure as a day they are paid again in their own Coyn Besides the sting of a guilty Conscience is sure to follow them as long as they live O that Children would but think upon the many Cares and Fears and Cost that Parents are put to for their Children and with what neglect contempt and disobedience 't is oft-times repayed But take heed remember that of the Apostle Eph. 6.1.2 Filii obedite c. Honour thy Father and Mother which is the first Commandement with promise The Promise is long life which all desire And our undutifulness to our Parents cuts of the thread of life and sends men headlong to the grave c. Now come we to those Horse-Leeches whose Teeth are spears as Solomon sayes And they devour the poor of the earth Prov. 30.14 Ecce Creditor The Father is dead The Mother almost distracted The Children in despair The whose little House nought but Tears and Terrour And in comes this Moth-of-men this Canker that hath eaten up many good Houses and their Masters to boot In comes the Vsurer one qui laetatur de lachrymis proximorum when all weep he laughs He hopes to gain wherever the loss fall and he riseth most while by the ruins of the poor Of all Vertues Mercy is the best It conforms us to our Maker and hath the promise of a reward both in this life and in the life to come Matth. 5.7 Blessed are the merciful for they shall be sure of mercy The object of Mercy is Misery To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed Job 6.14 So David Psal 41. Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy And Solomon He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord and look what he giveth God will pay him again Prov. 19.17 Now of all People in misery God regardeth none so much as the Widow and the Fatherless And therefore one special Branch in Moses's Law was a Proviso for them Exod. 22.22 Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child And when ye make a Feast call the fatherless and the widow Deut. 16. Nay thrice in that Chapter you are bid to rejoyce in your Feasts but call the fatherless and the widow No good feasting without them So likewise at Harvest-time at Olive gathering and Grape gathering still Remember the widow and fatherless Deut. 24. And one of the Charges which Asaph gave the Judges was to help the poor and fatherless Psal 82.3 4. When Eliphaz thought to load Job with Reproaches he tells him he had sent away the widows empty and he had not relieved the fatherless Chap. 9 And in Psal 94. one of their crying sins was They slay the widow and the stranger and put the fatherless to death Well then see here one that regardeth nor God nor Man nor Widow nor Fatherless All 's fish that comes to his Net Hee 'l have away the Children And let the Mother break her heart All 's one to him The Debt could not be great But the Forfeit was too great The Debtor was a good man and therefore would not borrow what in
The day of Death the day of Life Natalitiae Sanctorum So did the Fathers call those daies in which the Saints and Martyrs gave their fare-well to this World Natalitiae Martyrum A birth indeed a happy birth to be carried into Abraham's bosom by the hands of Angels Our first Birth is into this World Our second into the Church Our third into Heaven Behold a Sinner a Son a Saint In the first we come to live in the second to live hopefully in the third happily Our first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A life and that 's all scarce that and were there not another Hope a better Hope we might with Job and Jeremy Curse the day of this Nativity But if we once obtain the favour of the Font if we be born again of VVater and the Spirit Ecclesia uterus Our Womb 's the Church And as we believe the Church is holy so must every Member endeavour to be holy and unblameable Away with that praecipice of presumption I am a Member of Christ Quis me separabit I am a Son and who shall disinherit me O beware Thou art now upon the pinnacle of the Temple as Bernard said of some The Way is anceps and praeceps too Many rubs many turnings and therefore Attende pedi as Solomon said Look to thy foot and last of all beware of weariness walk and walk on to the end of the race that is set before you Many too many are like the Galatians of whom 't was said They did run well That begin in the Spirit but end in the Flesh that make a goodly shew but fall away and wither with the untimely Corn on the house-top Alexander and Lucullus were admired for Temperance in the beginning Nero and Domitian famous for their first fruits of Clemency Nicholas and Demas in great account with the Apostles but Cui bono You know what John was bid to write to the Angel of the Church of Smyrna Be thou faithful to the end and I will give thee the Crown of life 'T is the End that makes or marrs all And therefore run with patience the race that is set before you Conscience be your Guide Heaven be your Hope Job 18.14 and the terrour of Kings The king of Terrours shall never hurt you Death will be your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Midwife to bring you to your Third birth This is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The true life the only life when all our sorrows shall be turned into joy and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes FIAT FIAT A Return from ARGIER A SERMON Preached at MINHEAD In the County of Somerset the 16. of March 1627. at the re-admission of a Relapsed Christian into our CHURCH By H. B. B. D. REVEL II. part 5. verse Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works I Shall be forced to do what Israel promised Sihon King of the Amorites Numb 21. pass through his Country without turning aside into the Fields or Vineyards Or as your Saylors whom time forbiddeth most while to draw Landskips but with a Sea-mark or twain they make directly for the Harbour He whose Name is Wonderful Isai 9. Heb. 1.6 and whom all the Angels of God must worship Alpha and Omega Bids John write in a Book what he saw and send it to the seven Churches of Asia cap. 1. verse 1. and here unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write I pass by that strange assertion of some men in favour of unwritten Traditions that tell us the Apostles received commandement Vide Chemnit exam Concil Trident. parte 1 a. de Epistolis Apostolorum not to Write but only to Preach and yet Saint Peter Paul James Jude write and Saint John is bid Write I must leave on one side the dignity of the Pastors and their duty on the other and how what is written to the Churches must be sent to the Pastor of each Church either because as Anselme will Lauduneus in loc their sins their Souls shall be required at his hands or because the Priests lips should preserve knowledge Mal. 27. and they should seek the Law at his mouth Yet many with another spirit than was his who spake it say They are wiser than their Teachers and for the Scriptures praesumunt Hieron ad Paulinum lacerant O what senceless sence do those presumptuous Ignorants oft-times impose upon it But the wisest will remember they are but Candlesticks and because they do remember it Cap 1 v. ult they are golden Candlesticks but the Candles the Stars themselves which give the light are the Aâ—gels of the Churches those whom God hath singled out and set apart to teach his people The Letter to the Church of Ephesus doth follow I know thy works and thy labour c. The first part whereof may be divided into a Proof and a Reproof First What God approves and commends Secondly What he dislikes and discommends Many were their good works especially their undergoing the Cross and Persecution patiently They made a difference between weaklings and such as offended presumptuously they could not forbear them which were evil Though they were ready to bear home the straying sheep upon their shoulders yet the incestuous Corinthian must be cut off 1 Cor. 5.5 Their Pulpit was not open to every title-less wandring Preacher but his Calling must be known ere his Doctrine must be heard and therefore they did examine such as came unto them in the name of Apostles And all this did they for the Name of Christ and what makes much for their commendation they did all couragiously they fainted not And yet after all this In Gen. Homil 30. comes in a nevertheless and they are reproved Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love Chrysostome speaking of the Pharisee in the 18. of St. Luke that did pray so earnestly and fast so strictly and pay Tithes so conscionably and yet had a poor Publicane preferred before him tells us that he suffered a strange kind of shipwrack He had made a good voyage and lost all at home in his own harbour this can self-conceit do I may say as much of these Ephesians They had made an excellent voyage and were laden with many gracious commodities and lo one leak in the harbour did endanger all This can the want of love do Thou hast left thy first love Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works The parts are two 1. An Exhortation 2. A Direction The first discovers the wound the second declares the remedy Or here 's Remember for the time past Repent for the time present and Do the first works for the time to come Or here 's 1. Their misery or sin They are fallen 2. The height or greatness of their sin Whence and whither they fell 3. The salve Repentance 4. The Rowl which ties it on or the
unappalled deaths did strengthen some and raise up others and draw thousands from the very sink of Atheism and Infidelity to know and acknowledge their most gracious Redeemer And therefore remember from whence thou art fallen thou couldst never leave a better Example to others Fourthly and last of all We can never bring greater comfort to our Friends The Heathen when his Child was dead comforted himself with that inexorable unavoidâ—ble law of Mortality scio me genuisse mortalem but what unspeakable comfort would it be to say I know I have begot one who is now a Saint in Heaven 3. Convers of England part 3. Chrysolog serm 134 c. This made those three Mothers Felicitas Simphorosa and that other in the Maccabees to encourage each of them their seven Children in their torments and the comfort they received in their Childrens Constancy was much more than the pains they endured through the Tyrants fury This made the Mother of Simphorianus run after him when he went to hâ—â— Martyrdom still crying out Son Son be mindful of everlasting life Histor. Eccl. lib. 4. c 16. look up to Heaven c. And this made that Woman in Theodoret renowned for her care as well as constancy When Valens the Emperour had threatned death to all un-Arrianized Christians at Edessa and Modestus the Governour with his Souldiers stood ready in the Market-place to execute the Decree a Woman leading her little Child by the arm broke through the press and laboured to get in among her fellows The Governour demanded her whither she went she tells him She would drink of the same Cup the rest did And being further demanded what her Child made there and why she had brought it Her answer was That he also might die that blessed death Indeed great was the joy of the whole Church Erasmus vâ—rginum Martyr Comparat Cyprianus de lapsis tom 2. Vbi Martyr constanter exhalasset animam pro Christo Great was their joy if any died couragiously and great their sorrow their grief if any fainted cowardly wretchedly wickedly Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen Thou couldst bring no greater comfort to thy Friends Tertullian writing to the imprisoned Christians whom he calls Martyrs Cap. 4. exhorts them to endure constantly by the Example of Lucretia Mutius Empedocles and such others who suffered much to little purpose onely to get a terrene fading faine among men Tanti vitrum Ibid. quanti verum margaritum If they did so much for glass what should we do for gold If honour were bought at so dear a rate why should we grudge upon the same terms to get Heaven Cygneorum Carm lib. pag. 1051. a. Nazianzene s mâ—where tells us that the Heathen were onely valiant when the danger could not be shunned it was much if it were so But what bad Scaevola burn his right hand for missing in the murther of Porsenna Cic orat de Provinc Consul or if he stood in danger what is that to Lucretia or to those Noble Virgins who threw themselves headlong into Wells to save their Virginity Who made Brutus and Torquatus kill their Sons Who compelled Regulus to return ad crudelissimum hostem Cic. 3. officiorum ad exquisita supplicia to those mercisess Enemies to that strange death of his at Carthage And what made the Stoicks so prodigal of their lives B King on Joâ—as Lect. 27. that they little regarded the very extremity of Tortures and when they were upon the Rack they would cry out O quà m suave as if it were sport Surely nothing but a thing of nothing Honour and a Name amongst men while the noble Martyr shall have the acclamation of the Angels and an Euge of his Saviour Heaven is his 2 Sam. 12.8 and as Nathan told David if that be too little he shall have more his Name shall never perish from the Earth As Cicero said of Metellus Pro domo sua ad pontifices Calamity hath made them immortal even here also Their Prisons were visited as places made holy by the Inhabitants Men Women young old did kiss the Chains in which they had been fettered preserve the swords for Relicks by which any had been deprived of their life their Ashes sacred their memories blessed their Anniversaries kept the day of their Death being their Natalitiae the first of time in which they began truly to live And what could be wanting where Miracles were plentiful God even at those very places where the Martyrs lay witnessing their blessed state by many Miracles but I forbear As St. Ambrose said of one of them De virginibus lib. 1. Appellabo Martyrem praedicavi satis The Name of a Martyr is a whole world of Commendations Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do thy first works But this is not all here is a Quo vadis here is a whither we fall as well as whence we fall and a Terminus ad quem As God said by Jeremy Cap. 2. v. 13. The people have committed two Evils They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and have digged them pits even broken pits that can hold no water and as elsewhere They have forsaken me 1 Sam. 8.8 and worshipped other gods no Gods They have gone from Christ to Antichrist from God to Mahomet that same inimicus home that hath done so much mischief to Gods Vineyard Wherefore as Pilate sometime said of him in whom he confessed John 19. that he could find no fault at all Ecce homo I shall say to you of this cursed Caitiff and scourge of Christendom in whom I can find nothing but faults and those monstrous ones Ecce homo Prateolus en Rinoldo Haeres lib. 2. in Bayras Polidor Virgil. de invent lib. 7. cap. 8. take a view of him And though I cannot affirm whether he were genere admodum vilis as some or nobili genere natus as others Whether he were descended of Noble or obscure Ancestors nor whether his Parents were Jewish or Pagan or both or neither nor whether he were an Arabian or a Persian or neither nor whether he was buried at Mecha or Medina or at neither but devoured of Doggs the hellish history of his Life and Death being as obscure as Hell Purchas lib cap 3. In Verrem 3. yet all accord that he was what Tully said of one Immensa aliqua vorago aut gurges vitiorum turpituâ—inumque omnium the very puddle and sink of sin and wickedness A Thief a Murtherer an Adulterer and a Wittal And from such a dissolute life proceeded those licentious Laws of his That his followers may avenge themselves as much as they list Ph. Morney de veritate Christian. relig c. 33. That he that kills most Infidels shall have the best room in Paradise and he that fighteth not lustily shall be damned in Hell That they may take as many Wives as they be able
with that Vetus parsimonia so much heretofore esteemed and still exercised by all wise and sober persons After he had taken enough for himself his Friends and his poor Neighbours he carefully laid up the remainder wherewith he hath made a competent provision for his Family which being so honestly gotten and so honourably saved will doubtless carry Gods blessing along with it as it had his Nor was his Religion towards God less than his Loyalty to his Prince or his Charity to his Neighbour it lay not so much in the tongue as in the heart He manifested his Faith the surest way by his Works He was no Pharisaical Christian he did not blow a Trumpet when he gave Alms not tell the People by his looks when he fasted nor call for a witness when he prayed He had got such an art in Giving that one hand know not what the other gave He had a way to conceal his Fasts by the chearfulness of his Countenance and he cared for no other eye to behold his Devotions but Gods and his holy Angels And as he had God for his Father so he had the Church for his Mother which next to God he still respected and reverenced sympathizing with her in what condition soever she was in If she wept then did his eyes gush out with water if she rejoyced then was his mouth filled with laughter and his tongue with joy How have I seen him droop at the news of Gods Ark being in danger to be shaken and how would his spirits revive again at any good tidings of its peace and settlement how did he hate all those that had evil will at Zion yea he hated them as David did with a perfect hatred And how did he delight in all such as did seek the peace of Jerusalem In a word they that were friends to the Church were his friends and he had no enemies but her Adversaries As to his dealings amongst men they were all square and above-board He was a perfect lover of Justice and hated falshood more than death His love where he profest it was without dissimulation He was a true Nathaniel in whom there was no guile And have you heard of the patience of Job why such was his I can compare it to no other As they were both upright men and such as feared God and eschewed evil so was God pleased to afflict them much alike Job was cast out of his own house and so was he Job was plunder'd of his Cattel by the Sabeans and so was he of all that he had by worse than the Sabeans if possible by the rebellious Sequestratours Job lost his Children so did he only in this his misery was not so great Jobs Children were taken away rioting in a Banquetting-house but his died honourably in the service of their Prince Job was afflicted in his Wife too and so was he but in a quite contrary manner Job in having the worst of Wives He in losing the best But the manner of his losing her could not but add much to his sorrow for she was snatcht out of the world in a tempest and swallowed up quick by the merciless waves having all the remainder of the treasure he had about her to a very considerable value and a far greater treasure in her arms then that even his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his young and darling Daughter who chose rather to embrace Death than leave the embraces of her tender Mother and so both sunk together with a Maid-servant that attended her into the depth of the Sea There are some as I think at this time present who were then with her who remain the Monuments of Gods mercy in their deliverance and faithful Witnesses of the truth of what I speak Whose Courage whose Constancy but Jobs or His would not have stagger'd at such a shock whiles he like Job having the Anchor of his Hope both sure and stedfast stood like the Center unmoved And in the midst of all these Crosses and sad events that befel him he lookt upon the Divine hand invisibly striking with those sensible scourges against which he durst not either Rebel or Murmur All those extremities did but exercise his Faith not weaken it which like a well wrought Vault grew the stronger for the many pressures which were laid upon him In all this he did not sin against God by his Impatience nor charge God foolishly but with holy Job resigned himself wholly up to Gods will saying with him The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Nor were they more unlike in their Deaths than in their Lives The Lord blessed the latter end of them both more then their beginning Job died being Old and full of daies and so did he so full of Daies that he was satisfied if not weary with long life desiring rather to be dissolved and to be with Christ And so he died with Moses at the mouth of the Lord God gently drew out the breath which he had breathed into him quietly impinn'd his Tabernacle and so took him to himself in peace And now I find my self like to that bad Orator who could not desinere knew not how to make an end which I cannot but be the more unwilling to do because I know that as soon as I have finisht my discourse he will be carried from us into the silent retirement of the Grave and will be no more seen And methinks 't is some comfort to enjoy him even thus But we must part The Grave beckens him and methinks I see him beckning us to follow him O my Father my Father Nature would speak more but Religion commands me silence Could our Prayers have prevented his death we should have sighed out our Souls to God to have begg'd his life and could our tears yet restore him I see by those watery planets in your eyes we could command a deluge like to that in the floor of Atan or that of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo But he cannot come to us and that 's his happiness but we shall go to him and that 's our comfort Let us not mourn for him therefore as men without hope 'T is but his Body that is dead his Soul is still alive as well as ours but far more happy being already free of the glorious Company of Saints and Angels And we shall meet again I trust in Glory both our Souls and our Bodies where all sorrow shall be wiped from our eyes where there shall be no more fear nor death nor sin but we shall be all as the Angels of God And so Lord thy Kingdom come so come O Lord Jesus come quickly In the hour of Death and in the day of Judgment good Lord deliver us Give us grace so to live in thy fear that we may die in thy favour that so after this mortal life ended we may be received by thee into those heavenly habitations where we trust the Soul of our Dear Father here departed together with the Souls of all them that sleep in the Lord JESVS enjoy perpetual rest and felicity Unto which GOD of his infinite mercy bring us all for Jesus Christ his sake Amen FINIS
about Psal 4. Whereas the wicked are like the troubled Sea that cannot rest and there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa 57. the last verse Sure if we would look upon the ends of many of our Incendiaries and bloody Traitors slain shot hanged or otherwayes cut off we might see with what fears and terrours of Conscience they took their parting Their Souls were required of them as 't was said of his Luke 12. God knows much against their wills But for ours with what undaunted Courage did they tread the Scaffold and look grim Death in the face with St. Stephen obdormierunt they fell asleep And with Simeon They did depart in peace So then look upon both look upon the end of both And finis hujus hominis pax their Life good their Cause good and the End of them was peace Their Enemies might do their worst but Animae non habent quod faciant as Bernard said of the seduced Prophet slain by a Lion Their souls were safe and being justified by Faith they had peace with God Rom. 5. which brings us to another peace the best of all Fourthly Pax illa vera Hereditas Christianorum as St. Augustine said A peace which no man can take from us Peace in Heaven Luke 19. A peace which passeth all understanding Phil. 4.7 Now the Lord of peace himself gave you peace alwayes and by all means 2 Thess 3.16 Peace from Men and peace from Devils Peace from Sickness Peace from Sins The Peace of Conscience and the Peace of Heaven Such Honour have all his Saints God make you perfect and upright and you shall be sure of peace at the last Seek you first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and then caetera adjicientur the rest will follow And no good thing will he withhold from them who live a godly life I have no more to say but what St. Paul said to Timothy 1 Tim. 6.12 O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust Keep your Religion keep your Loyalty Look upon those who are gone before Let your Travels tell you that Man is a Pilgrim and a Traveller upon Earth and we have no continuing City but we seek one to come O God grant us so to seek that we may find Let us keep innocency and take heed unto the thing that is right For that shall bring a man peace at the last A FUNERAL SERMON ON PSAL. XXXIX the last Verse PSAL. XXXIX the last Verse O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more HOW hard it is for the very Saints themselves to keep a measure in their fearful Tryals and Adversities Job David and the very best of men do shew 'T was said of Job a good while In all this did not Job sin At last Homo erat and the very pattern of Patience falls into Impatiency cursing the Day he was born and the night that could speake a child conceived And as for David A long time he held his peace At length Locutus sum lingua mea Complain he doth and that bitterly Who ever thinks him to speak Rhetorically or what some dare say Hyperbolically Had they his Tryals they would better be perswaded of his passions Many were his Afflictions and deep were his draughts out of the Cup of Gods wrath But Patience and Penitency never loose their reward Many are the troubles of the Righteous but the Lord delivereth them out of all The way to this Deliverance is by Prayer Invoca me and pray he did And this his Prayer is composed into a Psalm and commended to Jeduthun a chief Musitian a Church Musitian to be sung to their Instruments of Musick in their Divine Service So that Church-Musick is old enough and useful too As Athanasius and Marcellinus that men by Musick might be put in mind to be musical in themselves and learn to compose their Affections Not to think well and do ill Not like Pilate Speak well of Christ but give Sentence against him This were Discord indeed And for this cause amongst others in the ancient and best of times He was thought scarce fit for any Christian Company that could not in some sort bear them company in the Quire And the Psalms were Quotidianae Lectionis Repetitionis Decantationis They were ever a chief part in all their Liturgies Unhappy those dayes that would it otherwise Well if we may not keep our Quires God grant our Churches stand And if we cannot say Cantemus Domino with our Prophet yet let us say Oremus Come let us pray together and magnifie his holy Name c. O spare me that I may recover strength before I go hence and be no more Psal 39. ult verse The words are Davids Of whom I may say what Chrysologus doth of John the Baptist That he was Fibula Legis Evangelii here 's Mercy and Truth Law and Gospel Fear and Hope all knit together First he sees his Sin Secondly then he trembles under Gods Judgments Thirdly not yet as one without hope He sins he suffers he sues for mercy The words contain First A Request Secondly A Reason Each double if you will First Spare me Secondly So spare me that I may recover strength There 's the Request Secondly For I must shortly hence I shall no more be seen There 's the Reason The Request or Prayer is of that kinde which we properly call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Supplication to be delivered out of his Troubles The Reason is drawn from the frailty of man He must away and away for ever no returning back again I shall take the words in their order which seem to make four Stops or Pauses The first of which is Desiste à me O spare me Words which bid us look back upon his Sin and his Punishment at the tenth and eleventh Verses The sin great whatsoever 't was for great was the punishment I am even consumed by the means of thine heavy hand thy heavy stroke But so 't will be When thou with Rebukes do'st chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth c. And this my case But spare me O spare me a little Where we have two things chiefly observable First the confession of his sin Secondly his imploring pardon I begin with the first his Confession How willingly do we plead Not guilty denying transferring extenuating our offences The Heathen would plead Fate for their Defence The Heathen do I say Yea many Christians do as much Gallinae filius albae The Founder of Reformation as some honour him John Wickliff said as much and John Hus his Disciple after him The Priscillianists thought the Stars had a compulsive power Not to incline only but to force men to do wickedly Making the twelve parts in the Zodiack to over-rule the twelve parts in Mans Body So they number them Our later Masters have gone beyond all those making God the cause of sin as sin And
Death There was a time when 't was otherwise Dixi in prosperitate mea c. Psal 30.6 I said in my prosperity I shall never be moved I made all cock-sure I thought the World had been mine eternally But now in his Affliction he is better informed and he that thought he should live for ever doth tell you of his going hence The Wise mans counsel is Memorare novissima the thinking upon Death is the ready way to Life And here 's one takes that course meditating on another World before he be compelled to leave this Many cast of these thoughts as too dull sad and melancholly None so old as the Oratour said but he thinks he may live one year longer And that 's the Millstone that hath sunk so many souls into the Abyss of Hell Senex volo intermortuus volo I may repent in mine old Age and on my Death-bed A late Repentance will serve that God who hath promised to accept of any At what time soever c. Sure we are afraid to be too good or to be too great Saints in Heaven And I may so often say I will and I will till God say I shall not I who have had so long a time and do neglect it may chance hear the Angel swearing That there shall be no longer time Solomon tells us of Evil daâ—es that ae to come Old Age are those and Sickness are those and Casualties are those The Scriptures tell us of an Hodie a time and an appointed time when we should repent and when God will surely hear But if we let slip that opportunity we may call and knock too with the Foolish Virgins and yet the Doors of Mercy be shut against us But what doth this concern the young man He hath many fair years to tell And those young Saints are never good Such indeed they may be But young Devils are alwayes naught And truly they set not the right foot before whose Rhetorick is Lyes and Oaths Their Musick a Baudy Song in their lips and a Prayer-book in their Pocket The greatest Discord in the World Their Devotion I am sure their Gesture yea and in Loco Sancto too is Antick Baptick any thing but what they should Their knees without joynts they cannot bow Their hands indeed sometimes lifted up but 't is to whiffle their locks or advance their Mustachio's Their eyes are rowling and adulterous eyes as St. Peter calls them and the whole model of their Carriage such as St. Paul said of some Jews They please not God and are contrary to all men 1 Thess 2.15 And do such Gallants think of going hence Do they dream of that Dance they must shortly dance That loath to depart Do they believe their own eyes Youth hath no priviledge As soon the young sheep comes to the Shambles as doth the old as soon indeed and oft-times sooner too Nay for one old man dye twenty young Ego ludebam foris in platea intus in Conclavi ferebatur super me judicium mortis Then wallowing in the sink of sin when the dismal Sentence of Death is pronouncing against them Well Youth gives these men no protection No nor Greatness neither And therefore David thinks of going hence Reads to himself and others that Lecture of Mortality Mors aequo pede pulsat pauperum Tabernas Regumque Turres Many are the priviledges of a King But none against Death And therefore the Heathen gave it and their supposed Fate the same Epithites Ineluctabilis Inevitabilis No wrestling against that Enemy Canutus may as well forbid the Sea to flow as any man can stop or turn back Death I must go hence And man is alwayes going A fasciis ad ferela linteum From the Womb to the Grave he is alwayes keeping on his progress St Gregory compares him to a Passenger or Merchant at Sea Stet sedeat c. Let him eat drink wake or sleep whatsoever he do the Ship keeps on his Course unto the Harbour Et nos impulsu navis ferimur The Gale is strong the Passage short and what our Merchandises will be God knows I fear many of us shall come short in our accompts and bring home stubble and straw Apes and Peacocks instead of Gold of Ophir 1 Kings 10.22 And what must our hope be What to make a better Voyage next No no our Ships will prove like Jehoshaphats Ships they 'l all break at Ezion-Gebeâ— No hope for a second Voyage or another Return If once we go hence we shall be no more And here make we our third Pause which hath brought us to the end of the race the visible race Now follows the last which brings us to the land of Forgetfulness as the Psalmist calls it If once we go hence we shall be no more There is hope of a Tree saith Job if it be cut down that it may sprout again and by the scent of Water it may bud and bring forth Boughs like a Plant But man dieth and is cut off he giveth up the Ghost and where is he Jobs first Quaere was Quid est What is man A poor silly Creature of few dayes and full of trouble A flower a shadow a nothing His next Quaere is Vbi est What becomes of him Where is he The Widow of Tekoa said much when she compared man to water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered up again But Job likens him to a floud decayed and dryed up no moisture or vestigia left For man lieth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more They shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep Cap 14. v. 12. And this is Davids Be no more no more a Man of this world No more in esteem no more to repent and find Grace For as the Tree falleth there shall it be Eccles 11. And therefore lay no more upon me than I can bear For I am a man and man is nothing I must away and be no more I go from whence I shall never return again O would our sons of Anak think on this who have sold themselves to work wickedness and drink up iniquity as Beasts drink water Their eyes swell with fatness and they do even what they list or as our last Translation reads it they have more then heat can wish They murder the widow and the fatherless and put the innocent to death Those men have their Day but 't is a short one Adhuc pusillum and we shall see them no more No more till we see them dragged to a worse Judgment then they now hale others Well if they 'l not think on 't God grant we may Our Goods they were but lent us and the less we have the less we have to answer for we can but go out naked as we came in and so shall all Our Afflictions will not last for ever and be they never so many and sharp too yet are not our sufferings worthy that glory that shall be revealed And at most those Lions
Invention of Mans Brain but meer Idolatry Aliena Dogmata Alieni Dii as said Lyrinensis And whilst they pretend to make a thorow Reformation as their phrase is they aim at a thorow Destruction of Church and State This is not Reformare but Innovare as Maximilian the Emperour said this is not to mend but to marr all The Lord hath given us a Rule in Jeremy and we will hold us to that Rule Ask for the old way for that 's the best way and walk in it and you shall find rest to your souls Jerem. 6.16 If we preach our selves and not Christ If we set the world together by the ears with our new Opinions as Erasmus said of some If with Isaiah Cap. 8.20 we do not keep us to the Law and to the Testimony If we speak not according to this Word receive us not say not to us God speed 2 John But when men grow weary of the old wayes and seek them out By-pathes to wander in When the Primitive Church is counted but an Embrio which must be lickt into a better Form by future Ages vide Calvin When the best of the Fathers are but Dish-clouts an homely phrase in a Scholars mouth when men gape for new Doctrines as the Oysters do for new tides When the Precepts of God and the practises of men do clash Beware of such Prophets and be ye not carried away with every blast of Doctrine Take heed how you forsake St. Paul with Demas Obedite praepositis vestris Hebr. 13.17 Be subject to the higher Powers Rom. 13. Kings and Bishops both must have our Prayers and Obedience And they who fail in these forsake St. Paul The last Part followeth The Motives which induced Demas to forsake St. Paul And they are two implyed in the word me First Me under the Rod of Persecution Secondly Me who am in penury or want And both of these expressedly in this Chapter He suffered multa mala v. 14. And Nemo adfuit v. 16. few Friends and many Troubles And this were enough to make a Demas forsake Paul many weak in the Faith to stagger many worldlings to fall away But we have not so learnt Christ The Servant is not above his Master And our Master hath left us an Example and we must tread in his steps For if we suffer for doing well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Peter 2. And this made so many Martyrs so prodigal of their lives if I may so speak so ready to suffer so willing to die Many offering themselves to the Fire even to the amazement of the Beholders Not to speak of Adavetus-Romanus or St. Laurence and his Grid-iron And in the Arian Persecution at Edessa Modestus the Governour did wonder to see not only the constancy but the forwardness of the Martyrs Women hastning with their Children to the Fire to the astonishment of the Tormentors They went saith one tanquam ad Nuptialem Thalamum as joyfully as to a Wedding Feast or to a Bridal-bed Since the beginning of those late miserable Confusions in our Land how many good men have been cut off in Ships Prisons and the Royal-Scaffold And many poor Widows and Fatherless do yet cry out and cry up for Justice at the hands of Heaven If Christ should say Sequere me as he did to Peter Go follow your Friends your Leaders your Betters and drink of their Cup What should we do We must do that or do worse And therefore where St. Pauls Sword doth come God give them St. Pauls Courage But all who suffer are not Saints nor are all Martyrs who die by the Hang-mans hand for their Religions sake What think you of Baals Priests that did slash and cut themselves or Cybiles Priests that did gueld themselves What of those poor Children made to pass thorow the fire to Molock or those Bohemian-women who suffered so much so miserably for the Opinion of the Adamites To these I might add whole swarms of Marcionists put to death for their Religion And the like might be said of most Sectaries and Seperatists And what is observable by the way not an Heretick not a Schismatick but have Scripture at their fingers end and all pretend Conscience and Religion John of Leiden Clement Ravilliack All Vsurpers Rebells Monsters take shelter There Yea he who called the Scripture Nigrum Atramentum or another A dead Letter or A Nose of Wax yet all these fly to Scripture and Conscience as to the Shoot-Ancre in a Tempest They who crucified our Saviour did as much Yea the Devil had his Scriptum est to tempt him All I shall say to this is The Scripture must be sanè Intellecta the Conscience must be benè Regulata they miss in both And so do all those who would be thought Martyrs for their Disobedience They forget St. Peter Let no man suffer as an evil Doer or a Busie-body They forget St. Paul who suffered for Christs sake 2 Cor. 12.10 And vestro commodo for the good of the flock Col. 1.24 The last thing which caused Demas to forsake his Friend and Master was I told you Pauls Poverty If Paul could have left some great Legacy behind him I know not what Demas would have done A golden hook they say will catch any fish But Paul is poor and must be beholding to his Friends for Maintenance And therefore the less wonder if Demas do as the young man did in the Gospel He would follow Christ wheresoever he went till he saw no hope of profit pleasure or preferment in the World the chiefest mark the most do level at I think the Millenary took his Rise from hence No life to this life And that made him dream of Wealth and Wantonness in his New World Ah poor Christian what can that New Earth be in comparison of the Old Heaven Or what comfort can it be to be kept out of the Caelestial Paradice yet the Millenary makes that a step to his future Felicity 'T is his Mount Nebo to see a better Canaan But we fading we to dote upon this fading World to crave a Knife to cut our Throats and tye a Mill-stone about our Necks To talk of Heaven and yet make provision only for the Earth O wherein do we do such surmount the Beasts that perish Nay Beasts do like Beasts and perish like Beasts But Man Divinae particula aurae to whom the blessed Deity hath given a Jewel invaluable a Soul so capable of eternal Glory for Man so much to un-man himself and make this World his summum bonum Angels and Saints I think the Devil himself doth wonder at it When Lot went out of Sodom and was now upon his way to Zoar his Wife looked back again upon her wealth she left behind There lay her heart When Demas was in a fair way for Heaven he looks back again upon the World There lay his hopes Nazianzen said of her That she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an immortal Pillar set up by the hand of Mercy
can offer up no greater Sacrifice to our Master We can purchase no greater happiness to our selves We can leave no better example to others We can bring no greater comfort to our Friends then under the hand of the merciless Executioner undauntedly to acknowledge whose Servants we are and with a free though fading spirit to confess our Saviour First We can offer up no greater sacrifice to our Master You shall first understand who ought properly to be called a Martyr Cyprian makes two sorts The first of them who shed their bloud Cypri ep st 9. Epâ—â—t 25. c Lib. de Duplâ—ci Martyrio in ter opera Cypriani tomo tertio Zanch. tomo 6. in cap. 2. ad Philip v 30. apud Aquinam 2â— 2â— q. 124. art 4. the second of them who are ready so to do for Christs sake And to those last torments were wanting saith one they were not wanting to the Torments Zanchius a knowledgeth that the Curch did usually call this later sort Confessors yet he will have Epaphroditus a Martyr and Hierom doth somewhere call the blessed Virgin a Martyr quamvis in pace vitam finicrit and Poâ—icrates * Euseb l 3. c. 28. G. 3. calls John the Evangelist a Martyr And Chrysostome tells the people of Antioch that a man may alway be a Martyr for Job was one and suffered more then many Martyrs did saith Bernard in his Sermon of Abbot Benedict Homil. 25. pretily differenceth Martyrs from Confessors and somewhere else tells us of three kinds of Martyrdom without bloud We must first conclude with Cyprian and Augustine In Senten Gab. Prateol Flench Heâ—es lib 3. §. 5 The Cause not the Suffering make a Martyr We disclaim the Campates a kind of Donatists who would have all voluntary Deaths Martyrdoms I think St. Augustine calls them Circumcelliones August de Haeres c 69. Prateol l 13. § â—6 Zanch tomo 6. in epist ad Phil cap 1. Idâ—m ib d August â—omâ— in Psal â—â— And l kewise Pelibianus who taught them to be Martyrs who slâ—w themselves in detestation of their Sins But â—o saith one Judas should have been a Martyr Secondly As Talis Causa so Talis Poena They are Martyrs who testifie the Truth Vsque ad mortem even sealing it with their 〈◊〉 The other whom the Church calls 〈◊〉 are â—eâ—â—de 〈◊〉 Martyres aequivocè Martyres so Zanchius Vbi Suprà in c. 2. v. â—0 in secundam secundae q. 124. art 4. Apud Zauch ubi supra in cap 1. Designati Martyres so Tertullian Interpretativè inchoativè secundum quâ—d mental Martyrs so Cajetan And therefore we may be bold with St. Augustine to blot out some and question other some even the holy Innocents themselves question I say not their bliss but their testimony that the dignity of Proto-Martyrship may remain unto St. Stephen The sum of all is this He is properly a Martyr who is tormented to the death for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ Revel 1.9 Of King Henry and Queen Maries Martyrs both for the honour of the dead and the peace of the Church I say nothiâ—g Academ quaest Cic 1. Officiorum Perchance the question then was or most while was for bounds as Tully speaks but now 't is for the whole possession and inheritance Nay 't is Vter esset non uter imperaret I am sure Heaven cannot hold us and Mahomet and blessed is he that shall lay down his life in so good a Cause A cup of cold Water shall not lose his reward Math 10 4â— Whosoever shall forsake Houses Mark 10 3â— or Brethren or Sisters or Father or Mother or Wife or Children or Lands for the Name of Christ shall receive an hundred fold more for the present and in the world to come eternal life What shall he have that forsaketh all He that offereth praise and thanksgiving honoureth God Ps◠〈◊〉 ver◠〈◊〉 He that gives his bread to the poor members of Christ feeds his Saviour but he that gives himself his life his bâ—â—â—â— doth give all and therefore more then all He that gives his life can give no more John 15.13 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen thou couldst offer no greater sacrifice to thy Master Secondly We can purchase no greater happiness to our selves I should much wrong you if I should labour to prove this If Heaven be better than Earth if the Crown of life better than the pains of death if things eternal better than temporal if to be alwaies happy better than ever in hazard in fear in trouble then he that suffereth for the Name of Christ doth to himself purchase Name Fame Heaven Happiness and with Mary hath chosen the better part which shall never be taken from him then he that loseth his life shall find it Math. 10.39 and he that dies with Christ shall live with him shall reign with him 2 Tim. 2.11 and the momentany afflictions which he doth here endure shall cause to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a more excellent weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 In a word participes passionis shall be gloriae participes as saith Chrysologus If we share with him in affliction here Chrysolog serm 40 Calvin inâ—titut lâ—b 3 â—ap 8. sect 7 he will impart to us blessedness hereafter So happy are these men whom God vouchsafeth that special honour as to die for him Write them blesâ—ed aâ— the voice said Revel 14.13 no men more no mâ—n like And therefore râ—member â—rom whence thâ—â— a t falâ—en Thou couldest purchase no greater happiness to thy self Thirdly We can leave no better Example to others St. Paul Philip. 1.12 14. tells us that his durance turned to the furtherance of the Gospel insomuch that many Brethren in the Lord were emboldned through his bands and durst more frankly speak the Word In Ecclesiastick History you shall read continually how one Martyr led the way to another and the noble resolution they shewed in their Death made hundreds then alive to take the same course yea so powerful is Example in this kind that the very Heathen not onely gave them testimony of Courage but were won to the Faith and sealed the same Testimony with their bloud Beda Hist. Angl. lib. 1. Palatina and the 3 Convers of England part 3. So did St. Alban beget his Headsman to the Faith and had him his Companion to the Kingdom of God So did the Constancy of Pope Sixtus the second strengthen St. Laurence and St. Laurence brings Romanus from a persecuting Souldier to be his fellow-Martyr Tryphon did the like and almost who did not The Phoenix-ashes some say yields another Phoenix but the Martyrs by life and death beget many Tertul. apolog c. 50. Semen est sanguis Christianorum Now if they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the Stars for ever and ever Dan. 12. How happy are those faithful Witnesses in Heaven whose holy lives and unterrified
Turks and that it was no Christian war fare Aliquid humani passus est He was a man and so he spake O might I live to see the time when our Roberts Godfries Baldwins would set foot in stirrop again and might I be one of the meanest Trumpetors in such an holy Expedition But we must leave the wound and him that gave it Prateol Haeraes lib. 11. sect â—8 that we may provide a plaister The Montanist like a timid Chirurgion doth forsake the Cure and the merciless Novatian doth not only pass by the wounded man with the Priest and Levite without reaching an helping-hand But Ingeniosa nova crudelitate as saith St. Cyprian wickedly though wittily kills outright Indeed that impure Puritan Novatus was all for Judgment and would not afford one drop of Mercy to those miserable wretches who in heat of Persecution fell away No tears no submission no satisfaction no possible Repentance might serve the turn whereby they might be reconciled and received to the Church again Tomo 7. de perseverant Sanctorum Now Zanchius is of opinion that the Novatians were not so unlearned or unskilled in the Scriptures but that they knew At what time soever a sinner repenteth of his sins from the bottom of his heart God would forgive but they verily believe That such as committed those grand sins as to deny their Faith their Saviour could never have the grace of true Repentance But we have Promises and Examples to confute their Errors And the Church did most worthily exclude and banish them Lactantius lib. 6. c. 24. who were so difficult and inexorable to receive others God commands not impossibilities but such is his goodness knowing the weakness and frailty of man he hath left a door open whereby man having gone amiss and returning may enter in To think God cannot forgive In Homil. Marianis Serm. 15. is against his Omnipotency To think he will not forgive is against his Goodness To doubt of either is against his gracious Come unto me Math 11.28 Prov. 28. c. For he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall obtain mercy And he that taught us to pray for remission and forgiveness intended who dares doubt it to forgive But there are sins and there are crying sins 〈◊〉 18.14 â— Iohn 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sins and audacious sins and sins to death there are indeed and to deny our Faith is none of those little ones and peccadillio's But he that loveth friends lands life more then Christ is unworthy of Christ Math. 14. And how detestable such offences are they may testifie whom a present vengeance hath seized on and who in the midst of their escape have felt the powerful revenging hand of the Almighty De Lapsis Cyprian will tell you of one stricken dumb and of another who presently possessed with an unclean spirit bit her tongue in pieces Poena inde coepit unde crimen And divers such like In a word 't is a Millstone-sin and sin of offence and wo to him by whom offence commeth Math. 18.6 7. Buc. loc 17. Althamer in concil loc script 12. Vid Aquin. s cunda secundâ—e q. 14. art 1 c. And Zanch. tomo 4 lib. 1. cap. 9 But 't is not a sin against the Holy Ghost though it come near to that sin nothing nearer when 't is not done Animo peccandi willingly wilfully and maliciously Anâ— so did Theophilact plead for St. Peter * In Luc. 22. that he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seed the root of Faith was left behind And Gregory †Apud Zanch tomo 7 de perseverant Sanctorum In Homil. Marian. Serm 15. Platina Carranz c. Cyprian that some sin of Ignorance so Paul some of Infirmity so Peter and other some out of a desire and malicious propensity to sin To the prince of the Apostles I may adjoyn that prince of Peace Solomon that great one who fell into so great Idolatry And Manasses who exceeded all men in abomination of sin yet is he afterward numbred among the friends of God And Marcellinus the Pope who burnt incense yet at the last suffered for the Faith and Casta and Emilius and a world beside who first fell and then repented and so repented that they not only obtained pardon of the Church in Faith but the glorious Crown of Martyrdom in heaven Yea I know some that tell us how for this very cause the Devil hasted to take Judas out of this life In Homil Marian. ubi supra least knowing that there was a way to turn to Salvation he might by pennance recover his fall I press it not Cyprian but yet Novatus must hear will he nill he that the Church was ever ready to receive those which return Her arms are open her breasts naked and she cannot forget her Child and if she could yet I know who cannot And therefore though this sin of thine be a scarlet-sin yet will I not say to thee as some St. Peter to Simon Magus si fortè remittatur Acts 8.22 Repent of this thy wickedness and pray to God that if it be possible thou maist be forgiven yea I know thou wilt be forgiven But thou must repent and do thy first work Canus Bucanus Alsted c. I cannot but approve their saying who derive Penitency from Poena sorrow within and shame without but this is not enough it must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a godly sorrow which doth cause a gracious repentance 1 Cor 7. Fear and grief doth accompany the damned but a religious Soul begins in sorrow walks on in hope resolves on Reformation addeth wings to his resolution and to finish and perfect all labours to do The first works the works of Grace Herman Colonâ—ensi â—â—t convers a peccat This made one define Repentance to be An earnest hearty serious sorrow 〈◊〉 our sins â—nliveâ—ed with the hope of paâ—dâ—â— and are 〈…〉 with a firm purpose of amendiâ—g what 〈…〉 aâ—â—â—â— Thiâ— made another say that to Repent is justitiam denuò operari Lactantius lib. 6. c. 24. The Book of Common Prayer in Princip ex Mat. 3 2. Not only to be sorry for what is done but seriously to intend purpose and live a better life and accordingly hath our Church somewhere translated Penitency into Amendment of life However the Rhemists Rhem testament in Mat. 11. sect 3. have found a knot in a Bulrush and dislike what they can never amend The common division of Repentance is into Contrition Confession and Satisfaction but many think it more common then safe and in detestation of Auricular Confession or for fear the All-sufficiency of Christs satisfaction were hereby questioned they cannot once endure the name of Confession or Satisfaction And yet the Papists make them not Essential parts but Integral the Materials Concil Trident sess 14. sub Julio tertio sess 4. Can 3 or
Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor death Rom. 8.38 39. nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor Turk nor Atheist nor any other Creature shall be able to separate him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I should say somewhat of the Ephesians of them and to them for I fear me they have a populous posterity even in our own Land Heb 11 6. Jam. 2.17 Works without Faith are unprofitable and Faith without Works is dead nor will every work serve but there must be (a) Rom. 12. fervency in prayer (b) 2 Cor. 9.7 chearfulness in giving a (c) Titus 3 1. promptness (d) Coloss 1 10. fruitfulness and an (e) 1 Cor. 15. ult abounding in every good work (f) 1 Cor. 9.26 Jam. 1.22 so run so fight SPERO MELIORA must be your Motto Do what you can yet know you can never do enough Lip-Religion doth but set an edge upon Gods anger and make man the more inexcusable and therefore see that ye be Doers of the Word and not Hearers only deceiving your selves And so Hear so Do as men that strive for the Mastery they do it 1 Cor. 9.25 as the Apostle saith to obtain a corruptible Crown and the height of their hopes is but unius herae hilaris insania I went by and lo they were gone Psal 37 37. In Homil. Marian. serm 16. but you shall escape that strange dark durable fire of Hell where the worm dieth not and shall be received into your Masters joy into the blessed fellowship of Saints and Angels into the glorious liberty of other the Sons of God as Children Heirs Co-heirs with Christ you shall be glorified with him To whom be ascribed all Honour glory power and praise for ever AMEN A SERMON Preached at the Funeral OF Mr. Humphry Sydenham GOD be merciful to me a Sinner Here 's my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is my Wish this is my Prayer and this must be my Text written in the 18. Chapter of St Luke and 13. Verse GOD be merciful to me a Sinner This is the last Legacy of a dyâ—◠〈…〉 commending his Soul to God and 〈…〉 to the Earth from both which both came This is the Vltimum Vale of a penitent Christian leaving behind him a memorial of his Faith and an Example for all Believers This Task and this Text were committed and commended unto me by that Mouth which hath now breathed his last whiles in the conflict it had with Sin and Deâ—th amongst many other gracious Ejaculations it shed forth this which you have now both heard and read God be merciful to me a Sinner Eccles 4.12 We are bound Triplici funiculo qui difficile rumpitur we are loaden with the weight of Sins sins of Impiety against God sins of Iniquity against our Neighbour and sins of Impurity against our selves And therefore O wretched men that we are Rom. 7.24 who shall deliver us from the body of this death But God hath promised Christ hath purchased the Prophets and Apostles all have preached Remission and forgiveness to the Penitent And therefore Agite poenitentiam this was the first lesson John the Baptist taught Math 3.2 This was the text to our Saviours first Sermon Math. 4.17 And this is the second Means God hath afforded the Sinner to lay hold on and climb up by unto the Throne of Grace Repentance Liâ— 4. Instiâ— â— 19. S. 17. saith St. Hierom is Secunda tabula post naufragium Mr. Calvin doth somewhere nibble at this But there is a double shipwrack One traduced the other perpetrated one transmitted the other committed One as we are in Old Adam the other as Old Adam is in us Baptism is Tabula prima and relieveth us against the first and Penitency is Secunda and restoreth us after the second But as Aliena praevaricatio first enthralled us first plunged us so Aliena justitia must bear us up amidst those waves and bring us out and set us free And therefore discerning our own Inability we disclaim our selves and Peccavi is our only plea. Peccavi with the Prodigal or Miserere with the Publican in my Text. God be merciful to me a sinner Here 's a gracious and acceptable Text pleasing to GOD A piercing and winnowing Text differencing Men A cutting and reproving Text unmasking Monsters Monsters who affect to spuddle in the dung of infirm Offendours and preventing Gods secret Counsels sit down in Judgment and dethrone their Maker justifying themselves and condemning others forgetting that in the 7. of Matthew Judge not but taking up the first stone to cast at the Adulterous woman Joh 8. My Text is a Prayer a Prayer short and sweet made by a Publicane and directed to God He hopeth not to be heard More Ethnicorum for his much babling Mat. 6.7 but petitioneth much comfort in few words It containeth in brief his Heaviness and his Hope Me a sinner Here 's his Confusion Deus miserere Here 's his Consolation A sinner yet Miserere No despairing no presumptuous sinner Here 's the Physician Here 's the Patient Here 's the Soar and Here 's the Salve The Physician is GOD. The Patient the Publicane The Soar is Sin The Salve is Mercy God be merciful c. 1. GOD Ergo potens est He needs not to be rouzed up with Baal nor taken up with Dagon nor assisted with Bell. He only is and is All-sufficient of himself He can 2. Be merciful It s His property to be merciful and to forgive Ergo Vult He can and He will 3. To me What were the whole World to me if my Soul must perish and therefore To me God be merciful to me who do humbly crave it 4. To me a sinner A sinner I confess it but there are Micae Catellis there are Crumbs for Dogs And therefore GOD be merciful to me A sinner 1. Again Many dig unto themselves dry pits which will hold no water Petitis à quibus dari non potest Apol. c. 29. praeterito eo in cujus potestate est as saith Tertullian Therefore GOD. 2. Many ask and receive not because they ask amiss like those Sons of Thunder in the 9. of Luke Therefore God be merciful 3. And now because Amor omnis incipit à seipso and very Nature teacheth every thing to affect and desire its own good Therefore To me God be merciful to me 4. Last of all God resisteth the proud and boasting Pharisees are rejected He that fails in one Commandement in one point of the Commandement is guilty of all James 2.10 and he that kept all yet lacked one thing Math. 19.21 When we have done all we can do yet shall we do too little And he that doth best is but a Servant unprofitable Therefore To me a sinner GOD be merciful to me a sinner 1.
on others because vve pay into their sins and are too vvell conceited of our own Righteousness vvhereas vve ought chiefly to condemn our selves and vvith the Cloak of Love cover or interpret charitably the scapes of other I vvill say no more but vvith the Apostle 1. Tim. 8.24 Some mens Sins are open before hand and go before unto Judgment and some mens sins follow after You shall have many a glorious Pharisee at that day when the works of all men shall be laid open and the hearts of all men shall be disclosed Ye shall have many a close Villain many a seeming holy Hypocrite shall be unmasked at that day when God shall judg the World by Jesus Christ Come hither therefore come hither thou fault finding Pharisee that seest not Manticae quod in tergo est and Lamia-like layest down thine eyes vvhen thou comest home Come hither and tell me whose Ox hath he taken or vvhose Ass hath he taken or to vvhom hath he done vvrong or of vvhose hand hath he received any Bribe to pervert Justice vvhen did any Tenant complain of his Land-Lords cruelty But his Annulus was testis voluntatis suae not Minister alienae His Seal vvas your security and his Grants were like the Acts of Medes and Persians they should surely stand His Revenues vvere mighty and his Estate honourable He was Mantuan Dives agri dives pecorum ditissimus auri as one sung of another George He had what that gaping Cormorant Covetousness or a dainty curious stomack could vvish The full and the fine of every thing and yet could he Pindar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vvhich the Poet vvanted in Tantalus He could digest his great vvealth and worldly felicities He was Dominus not Custos a Stewarâ— not a Slave to what he had I may call for vvitness Sea and Land this very place and others near adjoyning And for the poor I may justly say of him what vvas said of St. Geoâ—ge to whom Antiquity hath consecrated this day inops nunquam indonatus abibat Nam Pietas homini semper comes Mantuan vt supra inter egenos Effundebat opes c. The stones in the street will cry out if I should hold my Peace He was eyes to the blind Job 29. and feet to the lame and a Father to the poor nor would he eat his morsels alone and therefore multis ille quidem flebilis occidit Job 31.17 Many lament this Sun-set of his and more would but that they look to the Sun rising I should much forget my self if I should forget his Love to the Ministery He honoured the the Calling in his Life and he remembred some of them with Legacies at his Death Large Learned and Living Legacies I vvill come with the end of my Sermon to the end of his Life when his Physitian dealt in genuously and bad him prepare for another World after many and earnest prayers made to God he addressed him to some Friends of his then present and desired them to beware of Vsury 'T is a Sin which I presume none here will tax him with but Love and somewhat else made him say so The Odiousness of the Sin and the discharge of my duty makes me say more Anâ—ere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If Money could buy Life I would address my self and counsel all my Friends to that execrable Trade but if it make your life no longer and your sins the more if your present gain be future loss and oft times loss of Soul too learn to be righteous Usurers of Solomon's Prov. 19.17 He that hath mercy upon the poor faeneratur Domino he lends his Money to God upon Vsury for I cannot away with this late new-name of Rent 2. in Ver. Honestissima nomina turpissimis rebus imponunt They call their ill-gotten Encrease Rents Read the 15 Psal the 18. of Ezek. and 8. ver and many other places and you shall find an Amplius a word of encrease will encrease your danger I return again to the Bed of the sick How often did he wish there might be Peace amongst his nearest friends when he was gone What Fatherly Love did he shew his Heir What heavenly Counsel did he give his Servants And now because I am to bear a part in the last Act of his Life let me farther tell you how he desired and prepared to receive the holy Eucharist an awful reverence made him defer the taking for a Season and his encreasing Sickness kept him from the Sign for ever I say the Sign for Qui habuit Spiritum tuum quomodo non accepit gratiam tuam as St. Ambrose said of Valeâ—tinian the Emperour dying with the desire of Baptiâ—m but without it Will any man tie the Sacred Deity to sic and nunc or consine his secret will to second Causes If Votum in adultis be the Tenent of the Schools for Baptism and that first Sacrament may be dispensed with and the will or holy purpose shall suffice How much more in this shall our desire supply the want which not a dis-esteeming or neglect but humility and afterward infirmity keeps back I hope this may suffice you He could and did satisfie himself with that saying of St. Augustine Crede Manducasti yet not determining but cravâ—ng my Resolution Nor in thiâ— alone but pressed with the weight of sin he betook him to that well-approved medicine of Confession and therefore commanding all out of the Chamber he laid open his Grief and to use Tertullians phrase Lib. de Poen he made a publication of himself nor was he Pudoris magis memor quà m salutis He did what he went to do and what the issue was I leave to God who hath promised to ratifie in Heaven what we shall do upon the Earth But alas this accersat Presbyteros Jâ—m 5.14 is most where quite forgotten or slighted or condemned rather and therefore most-while that Remission of sins in the 15 verse is not obtained The Fathers were not all out of their wits in this point and the Jacobites and Albanenses are of two late a strain to cross the current of the Primitive Times and purer Antiquity And therefore Confess and confess 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Man to Man Sinner to Sinner Penitent to Priest Surely this is the way to save Souls from death But still the Rain-bow is in the Clouds Reconciliation it self comes from above And therefore Remission Jam. 5.15 Joh. 20.23 Math 18.20 there 's the Blessing Remiseritis ye forgive there 's the Bringer In nomine meo there 's the Donor and therefore Accersat Presbyterum but God be merciful God be merciful to me a sinner Thus did I begin thus must I end for thus made he his end and with his hand in the Priests hand having said the Lords Prayer Obdormivit Alas my Brother so said one Prophet of another lying dead before him and slain by a
jolly Man O what shall be thought of him when he shall cease to be a Man when dust shall return to the Earth as it was for this dust shall return to the earth as it was and Body and Soul must part their fellowship The third Part. The Laws established by Parliament say where the order of State requires a difference and mortal Powers claim a priviledge Let no man presume to kill Patridges Pheasants c. at length except they be Earls Barons Knights or any other that can thus and thus dispend But the Great Lawgiver gives no sucâ— liberty his words are general All Men must die Though with Asa we run to the Physician 2 Chron 16. or with Saul we seek to Witches 1 Sam 28 or with Maximus his Father we beg for mercy at their hands who never knew what Mercy meant The story is recorded by St. Gregory Yet nor the Physician by his application and lawful means nor the Witches by stipulation and ungodly compact nor the Devil by his long experience and accommodation can lengthen mans life Let the Physician pardon me for his being knit up in this triplicity I honour his Skill and if he be a good Man I honour his Vertue ease me he can but lengthen my daies he cannot I have read Bevenovitius who hath left no stone unturned to maintain their Power and when all is done that in Job stands as a firm Maxime or Conclusion His daies are determined the number of his months is with thee thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot pass Job 14. verse 5. In Noah's daies some went into the Ark and some were kept out In Joshua's daies some went into Canaan and other some remained beyond Jordan In the Circumcision Women were priviledged In the Wars Levites were excepted In Egypt only the First-born perished But here is a general Decree of Death an universal sentence is past upon all flesh All Men are Dust and all dust must return to the earth from whence it came The Sun did once stand still at the prayer of Joshuah and once went back in the Dial of Ahaz and Death did once depart again for fifteen years at the earnest Prayer of Hezechia's But the Sun returned to his course again and Hezechia's Plaister could not prevent a second sickness Once these things were to shew GOD is above Nature and these things were but once to shew Nature is the hand-maid of God Once these things were that we might acknowledge a God above and these things were but once that we might not forget our selves beneath The first Garments our first-Parents wore Fig-leaves excepted might read us a lesson of our frailty and mortality those exuviae mortuorum those Skins of Beasts taken from the Dead to cover those that could not live for ever But he is now worse then a Beast that needs a Beast to be his Teacher Adam and all Adams Posterity unto this day do speak as much Our Life is like Jonah's Gourd which a little Worm could smite and make it wither Our Life is a shadow which every cloud of Sickness can take away Our Life at best is but a Sun which if it can hold out till the Afternoon of Old-Age yet at length it doth decline and set and shrink away Said I a Sun or like the Sun No no Soles occidere redire possunt the Sun doth set and rise again and as he goes he comes again But Man if once he sets he sets for ever Dust doth return to the Earth as it was and all corrupts and all resolves into that Element from whence it came All that was Earth returns to the Earth What saith the Jewish Sadducee or the Seleucian Heretick is there therefore no resurrection of the Flesh Can these Bones live Ezekiel 37. and can dead Earth revive again Surely those Bones did come together and live and stand up And Aarons dry Rod did bud And a Virgin did bear a Child Why not as well a Resurrection of the Flesh Yea why not rather a Resurrection than a Creation facilius est restaurare quà m à novo nihilo facere Tertul. Apolog. cap. 48. Though to God it be all one it should seem in all Humane understanding a great deal easier to recollect what is then to Create what is not I might argue from the Justice of God and from the Resurrection of Christ and from the Renovation of the Phoenix and from the Resuscitation of Lazarus and the rest Or which our eyes daily behold from the Corn in the ground which is not quickened except it dies Or from those industrious subtilties of the Alchimist who by his Calcination dotb pulverize his Mettals and by his Congelation doth restore them much more perfect then before But we believe and therefore I return to Solomon The Spirit returns to God that gave it Returns to God and to God that gave it Why then the Soul of Man was not Created by Angels as the Enthusiasts and Seleucians have foolishly imagined Nor doth the Soul die together with the Body as the Albians and Trinitarians would fain perswade themselves Neither have we a Catabaptistical sleeping Soul neither have we a Papistical walking Soul Neither said the Pythagoreans true there was a transmigration into Beasts nor the Tertullianists how the Souls of wicked men are converted into Devils No The Spirit returns to God that gave it Those Spectrum's those Apparitions of Men departed how are they of the Body which returns to the Earth how of the Soul which returns to God But 't is not mine intent at this time to handle Questionâ— or compound Differences Only my desire is hereby to excite us to Repentance That seeiâ—g our Body must to the Earth we be not proud and seeing our Spirit must to GOD we be not careless that we acknowledge our weakness in that we must die here and by a good life labour to prevent all danger that we may live hereafter That since our Body and Soul are come as Friends together Friends meet and part and so must they Since life cannot be kept death cannot be avoided and since our Soul must needs appear before his Maker before his Judge to have its private Trial and particular Judgment according to the things it hath committed in this life good or evil O listen we not to those Syrens Songs that cry Peace Peace all is well Be we not like frozen and benummed ones that have no feeling Suffer we not our selves to be lulled asleep in that pernicious Cradle of Security as if one Sigh one Groan one Domine or Mercy LORD should by and by transport us into Paradice The Devils did believe and Judas followed Christ the Pharisee did good works and Ananias gave half of that he had unto the poor Balaam did pray and Cain repents and Judas restores O GOD help us we are not gone as far as these in the way to Heaven and how shall we escape their punishment who have matched them and I
fear over-matched some of them in our sins and wickedness O therefore here make a stand yet now begin to provide Oil for your Lamps now learn of Joseph to lay up against those years of Famine now bethink of your wedding-Garment GOD is Just and will not be mocked LIFE is frail and will soon be ended The BODY is dust and must be dissolved The SOVL returns and must be judged O therefore make use of that little time is left you Defer not your Repentance from day to day Say not to morrow I will do thus and thus 'T is Vox corvinae as St. Augustine said 't is harsh 't is hellish to say thou wilt to Morrow and appoint a day to save thy Soul who art not sure thy Body hath one hour to reckon Of this thou art surr That many millions perish in their sins who had they known what now they feel they would have repented long agone in sackcloth and ashes Of this thou art sure The longer thou continuest in sin thy Case is the worse thy danger the greater and thy return will be more difficult Of this thou art sure That late Repentance is seldome true Repentance and as one saith Percutitur hâc animadversione peccator ut moriens obliviscetur sui qui vivens oblitus est Dei 'T is a just Judgment of the Almighty That he that would not remember God in his life should forget himself at his death The Stork the Turtle the Crane the Swallow these all observe their times Jerem. 8.7 and shall Man that was created Lord of all be more ignorant then them all shall he fore-slow the time given and reject the Grace profered Nay shall he make the times and observe the seasons in every thing but what concerns his Soul Sow in season and reap in season and plant in season and shall the hour for our Repentance allowed be unseasonable There is a time for all things saith Solomon and shall we never find time for this Thus thus it is and thus it followeth That many are Called and few are Chosen In the general Deluge Noah only and his Family escaped drowning At the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah Lot only and his Family escape the fire At the overthrow of Jericho Rahab only and her Family escape the Sword Here is Antefactorum narratio futurorum Prophetia as Irenaeus said in another Case Those fearful Examples those handfuls of People that were exempted from the common Calamity they tell us not only what befel them but what assuredly shall befal others when those that will not now and cannot then repent must look for nought but woe and misery a rejection a separation an Ite maledicti away for ever Leave we the Impenitent in his sins and leave we the impenitent to his sorrows for Tophet is prepared of old a place is made ready for them who will not make themselves ready for God And let us trace another while the steps of him who as Chrysostome said hath made that voluntary which he knew necessary who could welcome Death without fear and bid adieu to life without sorrow Yet by David's judgment he had not attained the half of Mans life and by our account had Youth and Strength two promising supporters in time of need O come hither and behold for here he lies here he lies whose hands were not hound nor his feet tied in fetters of Brass his grinders did not cease because they were few nor were they grown dark that did look out at the windows he arose not up at the voice of the bird the daughters of Musick were not brought low the Almond-tree had not yet budded c. And lo Earth is returned to the earth as it was and the Spirit is returned to God who gave it Well then what if he were prevented by Death What if his daies were not so many or life so long had he not the better gale of wind to bring him to his harbour Yes yes and was old enough Quicunque ad extremum fati sui pervenerit hic moritur senex the honourable Age is not that which is of long time neither that which is measured by the number of years but wisdom is the gray-hair c. therefore verse 13. though he were soon dead yet fulfilled he much time for his Soul pleased God therefore hasted he to take him away from wickedness De medio iniquitatis from Sin from Sinners O Noble Israel how are the mighty overthrown tell it not in Gath O yes tell it in Gath and publish it in the streets of Ashkelon Let the Philistians see and the uncircumcised hear Si sic in viridi quid fiet in arido If a young Plant in the prime of his years and the most flourishing time of his life be thus taken away why do we live as if we had made a Truce with Death or as if this World should last for ever We have a Consumption as well as He his was patens ours latens and the more dangerous his in Januis ours in Insidiis his was open ours in secret and yet not so secret but every man may run and read the Characters of DECLINING writ in our Fore-heads and every Limb can tell there 's something works within it to our end and every day can tell another we are worse then when he found us That Death then may not come suddenly let us amend speedily LOOSE NO TIME was Great Caesar's Motto Nought is more dangerous then Delaies Cur non hodiè cur non hâc horâ Why then this day why then this hour begin we to amend our lives Say we as sometime Balaam did but with a better resolution If Balack would give me his house-full of silver and gold I will not do thus and thus If I might win an house-full of silver and gold I will not do as I have done I will not grieve the holy Angels nor re-Crucifie my Saviour nor hazard my Soul nor offend my God I will not oppress where I am the stronger nor undermine where I am the subtiler I see Mans life is in his Nostrils and he is quickly gone I see the World is deceitful and can give no true content I see that blessedness is reserved till another World BEATI MORTVI QVI IN DOMINO Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord c. So let us die O Lord and so let us live that we may so die Sweet JESVS AMEN Reverendissimo In Christo Patri ac Domino DOMINO SETHO EPISCOPO SARISBVRIENSI Et Nobilissimi Ordinis Periscelidis Cancellario HAMNETTUS WARD Clericus Longaevitatem pancraticam dignitatis sastigium vitam aeternam ex animo optat DVO sunt Pater Praesul dignissime quae homini famam optimam apud posteros conciliare solènt debent benè facta scilicet benè dicta Vtcunque tamen benè dicta quaeque fuerint vel facta nisi etiam literis committantur plerumque incassum pereunt Nam quae per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
if they had missed the cutting of their Fore-skin And so likewise in the New Testament many are said to receive the Holy Ghost before they received Baptisme Wherefore as St. Peter said of some of them Act. 10. Can any man forbid Water I may say Could any man forbid Heaven if they had died without Water If any say Vid. Dom. Soto in 4. Sent. dist 5. q. unic art 2. The Votum or desire might suffice them because they were Adulti and come to years of discretion Let them know here could be no Votum because no knowledge And ignoti nulla Cupido In Comment in 2 Pet. 3. habet Sixt. Senens bib lib 6. Annot 340. Ambrosius Catharinus is more favourable to Infants He thinks they shall live in that New Earth which shall be at the end of the World in all pomp and jollity and shall there praise God for ever Thus do our Adversaries pass their Judgment on holy Innocents and that Rule of their Aquinas is forgotten Deus non alligavit gratiam suam Sacramentis Gods hands are not bound nor hath he tyed his Mercies or confined them to the Sacraments The Conclusion of this point is That Baptisme is the ordinary appointed Means for our Salvation And therefore neglect it not Yet hath God his special favour and his extraordinary Grace saving oft times saving without Means where the Means cannot be had Vid. Mortons Apol. not 6. c. 41. p. 121. jos Angl. par 1. q. 1. de Bapt. art ult con 3. And many learned Papists as Cajetan Gerson Gabriel are of our Opinion vid. Dom. Soto in 4. Sent. dist 5. q. 1. art 2. ubi de Aliis Part 5. The Benefits obtained by Baptism and how they are conveyed unto us Vide Chemnit exam Concil Trident part 2. p. 20. Many Schoolmen attributing too much to the outward Signs tell us That Grace is given in them and by them not only Instrumentally but either Effectivè or Dispositivè by an inherent vertue in the Elements You heard of some in elder times Vid Danaeum in Aug. de haeres in fin who did wholy slight this Sacrament The Socinians have done as much in our daies And some have done but little better whilst they make the Sacraments distinctive only nought but bare Signs or Notes of our Profession whereby from Jews Turks Pagans we may be discerned But we acknowledge Power in these holy Mysteries and that they are not meerly significative but exhibitive also Offering and conferring Grace Sed ex Institutione promissione c. Not of themselves but by the mercies of God in Christ they carry and conveigh the blessings of our Redemption and seal unto us those Promises which God hath made and Christ hath purchased with his precious blood Thus Augustine Tract 80. in Joh. How and whence comes this power to the Water that touching the Body it doth cleanse the Soul The Word the Word sa th he is cause of all not because spoken but because believed And thus Cyril of the Pool Bethesda Joh. 5. Tom. 1. in Evang Joh. l. 6. c. 14. That it did cure Diseases not by its own Nature for then it should have alwaies done it but only at the coming of the Angel 'T is so saith he in Baptisme where not the Water but the Water sanctified by the Holy Spirit doth wash away sins In Nazianz tom 1. Orat 6. de Sp. Sanct. ipse Nazianz in funere Caesarii fratris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To these I add Elias Cretens in Nazianz. He tells us How the Water doth renew us unto Regeneration but the Grace and Blessing cometh from above And thus have you the fruit the benefit of Baptisme 'T is Opus Spiritus Sancti 'T is a work of the Holy Spirit Enough were said and say no more but it doth offer and confer Grace wash away sins and cleanse and sanctifie Ephes 5.26 'T is Janua Ecclesia Janua Coeli The Door through which we pass into the Church Militant and from thence into the Church Triumphant 'T is our New Birth our Second Birth There is a double Birth From the first Adam as Sinners from the second Adam as Saints By the first we are liable to Death by the second we have a right to Glory In the first we come crying with that of the Apostle Quis me liberabit Wretched Men that we are who shall deliver us In the second we come with Gratias in our mouths Thanks be to the Lord who hath so graciously bestowed upon us that worthy Name that good Name by which we are called James 2.7 Christians Christians All saving Graces all our Comfort all our Hopes are comprised within that Name Our next care must be to walk worthy that Name We must be New Creatures 2 Cor. 5. for as the Apostle said of Circumcision Gal. 6. we may say of Baptisme Baptisme or no Baptisme all is one unless we become New Creatures 'T was one of Jovinians Errours August de Haeres cap. 82. That the vertue of Baptisme could not be lost Homines non posse peccare Men could not sin Ergo Men could not perish And we in our Catechisme say That we are made Members of Christ and Children of God But rotten Members must be cut off and disobedient Children must be disinherited If you will hold of the head you must hold with the Head Do what he commands you Do as you have seen him do John 13. Are ye Christians Live like Christians Remember what John Baptist told the People when they came to his Baptisme Luke 3. The People all of them must be Charitable The Tax-gatherers and Excize-Men must be no Exactors The Souldiers must be content with their Wages and do violence to no man And all this under the Law And doth our Christianity require less No sure New Men New Manners And he that said Discite à me Math. 11.29 sends us elsewhere to School amongst those Little Children Learn of them Math. 18 3. Except ye be converted and become as Little Children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of God And so Peter in the first Epistle second Chapter and second Verse As New born Babes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 desire the sincere Milk of the Word I so do you Sermons Sermons All for Sermons And that 's well done but that 's not all Look what follows and what went before First lay aside all malice guile hypocrisie envy and the like the very sins the reigning sins of those times Be Children in Malice 1 Cor. 14. And as the same Apostle elsewhere 1 Thess 4.6 Let no man oppress and circumvent his Brother No Oppressing that 's for the Gentlemen No Circumventing that 's for the Chapmen Here be Children here be Innocent This is the way Ambulate in ea the ready way to Heaven I spake but now of a double-birth Lo here 's a Third The last day will be our best day