be done in a withered saith our Saviour If he be so busie about the Saints what will he do to sinners And this is the state of a wicked man at his dying day But In the death of the godly it is not so 2 2. The state of the godly for having served God all his life Prov. 14.32 2 Tim. 1.12 he hath hope in his death and he knoweth not whom he needs to fear because he knoweth whom he hath believed and when his body is weakest his faith is strongest and therefore with Saint Paul he desires to be dissolved and he longs for death that he may be with him which was dead and is alive and liveth for evermore and he is well contented that his body shall go to the grave that his soul may go to glory and that his flesh shall sleep in the dust that his spirit may rejoyce in heaven And this is the state of the godly man at the day of his death And therefore if men would feriously consider this before they come to this then certainly the fear of the most fearful death of the wicked and the love of the most comfortable death of the godly would make them to have some care of Godly lives and to repent them of their wickedness And therefore well did Moses and we with Moses wish that men would consider their latter end And yet this is not the end of all for after death comes judgement And so Secondly This judgement is either 1 Particular 2 2 Judgment and that two fold or 2 General 1. As soon as ever the soul is parted from the body 1 1. Particular before the body is laid in the grave the soul of the wicked is fetched by the Devils and carried into the place of torments and the soul of the godly is received by the Angels into Abrahams bosom Luke 16.22 23. as our Saviour sheweth most plainly in the story of Dives and Lazarus And 2 Because the whole world 2 2. General both of men and Angels might see and approve the just judgement of God and that the whole man both body and soul might receive the full reward of their due deserts the Lord hath appointed a day saith the Apostle in the which he will judge the world in righteousnes Act. 17.31 that is by Jesus Christ And this is that day which Christ and his Apostles and all the faithful preachers of Gods word would have all men always to remember and to set it before their eyes For so Saint Hierom saith Whatsoever I doe whether I eat or drink or whatsoever else I am about me thinks I hear that dolefull voice of the Arch-angel sounding in mine cares and saying surgite mortui venite ad judicium arise you dead and come to judgement saith the Holy Father Itremble all my body over and so Felix though he was but a Heathen trembled Act. 24.25 as Saint Paul reasoned of righteousness temperance and judgement to come And so indeed it should make any heart to tremble that would seriously consider but these two things 1 The manner of Christ his coming For Two things to be considered concerning this judgment 2 The terror of his proceeding For First in that day there shall be signs in the Sun and in the Moon and in the Stars The Sun shall be darkned the Moon shall not give her light the Stars shall fall from the skies and all the powers of heaven shall be moved the Elements shall be dissolved with heat and the earth shall be consumed with fire Whereby you may see what a dreadful thing is sin for what have these senseless creatures deserved that they should be thus severely punished and thus travel in sorrow and pain but because they rose not up against us when we rose up against God He will therefore fight against them because they did not fight against us when we doe fight against him And what a fearful contagion of sin is this that subjecteth the very heavens unto vanity And therefore most wretched are we in whom dwelleth nothing else but heaps of sin and iniquity But to go on Then the distress of nations shall be great The distress of Nations how great and men shall wither away for fear saith our Saviour for when destruction shall be dispatched as a whirlwind and God shall burn the earth as Holophernes did the Countrey of Damascus what fears think you shall then affright the hearts of men and what heapes of perturbations shall run upon the damned sort when they shall see all these things playing their last act upon the fiery stage of this world And then they shall see the son of man cloathed with the clouds as with a garment riding upon the heavens The glorious maâ—crâ—â— Christ â—is coming as upon an horse and coming flying as upon the wings of the wind in the glory of his father with his Angels and what manner of glory is that Moses tells you that the Lord our God is a God of Gods Deut. 10. and a Lord of Lords a great God mighty and terrible that accepteth no person nor taketh reward and Daniel describing the great Majesty of God saith that his garments were as white as snow the haires of his head like the purest wool his throne like the fiery flame and his wheeles like burning fire Dan. 7.9 10. and there issued forth a fiery stream and went on t from before him a thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thous and stood before him And it is recorded of the Angels that one of them slew all the first-born of Egypt in one night and that another of them made such a havock in the army of the Assyrians that a hundred fouresoore and five thousand of them were all slain in one night and were laid on the ground as corn by a sickle And if one Angel could do such Tragick feates The great power◠〈◊〉 the Angels what shall become of the enemies of God and wicked men when Christ like a man of warr shall buckle his harness unto his side and come in the glory of his Father with so many myriads of heavenly Angels attending him Eusebius Emysenius demandeth Si talis tantus sit terror venientis quis poterit terrorem sustinere judicantis if his coming be such and so terrible who shall be able to endure the terror of his judgement And if the Israelites durst not abide his Majesty when he came to deliver the Law how shall the wicked abide and stand before him when he cometh to render vengeance unto them for transgressing his Lawes And yet they must endure it And it will be very terrible unto them For 2. In that day saith our Saviour He i. e. God shall send his Angels with the sound of Trumpets and with a mighty cry to raise the dead and to gather together the Elect from the four windes and from the one end
their sayings jeeres or threats By no means 2. As we should be bold as Lions without fear so we should be diligent and painful in our places like the Oxen without laziness to pray continually and to preach constantly and as the Apostle saith in season and out of season that is not so frequently as our late Fanatiques would have us to preach Sermons full of words without substance but as St. Augustine expounds it Volentibus nolentibus For to the willing hearers it comes in season and to the unwilling it comes out of season whensoever it cometh And when we do this then 2 2. That the Magistrates and Minist should be like the Ox painful and diligent to doe their duties as the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the corn should not be muzzled so ought not we to be molested nor detained and held with vexatious suits to hinder us to discharge our necessary duties lest the punishment of our neglect should fall upon the heads of them that cause it For we are sure that our God is so just that he will not punish any one for not doing that which he is not suffered to doe as for not going into his Church when the wayes are so stopt that he cannot possibly pass it 3. We should be not like the horse and mule 3 3. The Magistrates should be like men sober and rational and not voluptuous like Beasts that have no understanding and whose mouths must be holden with bitt and bridle lest they fall upon thee but we should be endued with reason like unto rational men that as Cicero saith Agere quâ—equam nunquam debent cujus non possunt rationem probabilem reddene ought never to do any thing whereof they could not yield a very probable reason And God knows how many things we do for which we can yield no reason at all For what reason had we to wax weary of our peace and of our happiness and to rebel against a most gracious King to destroy our selves And what reason have we to expect God's blessing and yet to continue sacrilegious to rob God of his dues Or is there any reason that any Common-wealth should keep Souldiers to protect them and not regard them nor countenance them nor pay them their wages Surely they are very necessary to preserve our peace and they ought not to be slighted and John Baptist saith They should be content with their wages but they should therefore have their wages and how should they have their wages if the Superiour officers defraud the inferiour Souldiers or the close-handed people detain their taxes I know not where the fault is if there be any but I know his Majesty and his Immediate Governours would have all things done with uprightness and according to the Dictate of right reason But to leave these and the like unreasonable men that do these and the like things without reason 4. 4 4. They should be endued with the properties of the Eagle We should all be like the flying Eagle and the chiefest properties of the Eagle are 1. A sharp sight 2. A lofâ—y flight And both these are expressed in the Book of the Righteous Job 39.32 where the Lord demandeth of Job Doth the Eagle mount up at thy command 1 1 The sharp sight of the Eagle and make her nest on high She dwelieth and abideth on the Rock upon the crag of the Rock and the strong place there is her lefty flight then he proceedeth and saith From thence she seeketh the prey and her eyes behold afar off there is her sharp sight and of this sharpness of sight Saint Augustine saith How sharp our sight should be in spiritual things that being aloft in the clouds she can discern Sub frutice leporem sub fluctibus piscem Under the shrubs an hare and under the waves a fish Even so should we that profess Religion especially we that are the Ministers of God should have Eagles eyes to see the Majesty of God in a bramble-bush Exod. 3.2 like Moses to discern the presence of Christ with us in the fiery furnace Dan. 3.25 like Abednego to behold an Army of Angels ready to defend us in our straightest siege 2 2 Reg. 6.17 and to consider the assistance of God to help us when we are molested and compassed with the greatest heaps of â—fflictions Rom. 8.18 like the holy Apostle Sâ— Paul But this the children of this Generation cannot doe The worldly mans quick fight for though the understanding of the worldly man which Nazianzen cal eth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eyes and lamp of reasâ—n be piâ—reing sharp and cunning enough to make a large shâ—kel and a small Epha Amos 8.5 Luke 12.56 and very well able to discern the alterations of the skyes as our Saviour witnesseth yea and to enter like Aristotle into the secrets of nature and the deepness of Satan to finde out the plots and practices of his craftyest instruments yet being but a meer natural man he cannot perceive the things that be of God 1 Cor. 2.14 as the Apostle sheweth neither can his understanding reach any further then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such things as may be manifested by demonstration as St. Clement saith For If you talk of Christ's conception in the wombe of a pure Virgin without the help of a man then the Heathen His dimness and blindeness in spiritual things like Sarab laugheth at it and the wise Philosopher as being in darkness stumbleth at it and cannot conceive how this thing can be If you talk of Christ's death and say that our God should dye and by his death procure to us eternal life then the Jews will storm at our folly and the Grecians count it a meer madness and a great reproach to our Religion And if you talk of his glory and power that being dead and buryed he should raise himself again and now reign as a King of Kings in Heaven then the children of infidelity deem it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a feigned thing And the reason thereof is rendred by St. The reason of the worldly mans blindeness Augustine that as the eye of man if it be either blinde or purblinde cannot thereby discern the clearest object even so faith he animus pollutus aut mens turbata a soul defiled with sin or a minde disturbed with worldly cares can neither see God that is present with him nor understand the things of God that belong unto him Yet the spiritual man that hath the Eagles eyes The spiritual mans quick sight which Philo calleth fidem oculatam faith enlightened by Gods spirit can discern all the deep things of God even the most excellent mystery of godliness which is as the Apostle saith God manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit seen of Angels 1 Tim. 3.16 preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world and received up into glory For in the
tion 4 The fourth Exposition is of the ancient Fathers as Irenaeus Venerable Bode St. Hierome St. Augustine St. Gregory Lyra and almost all of them did agree Iren. l. 3. c. 2. that by these four Beasts are understood the four Evangelists St. Matthew St. Mark St. Luke and St. John Beda in hunc loc But to reconcile all or most of these Interpreters I say that 1. The reconciling of the Interpâ—eters Primarily we may and ought to understand the four Evangelists by these four Beasts 2. All the Magistrates of the Common-wealth and all the Ministers of the Church and Preachers of God's word 3. And lastly All Christians whatsoever they be ought to be like unto these four Beasts both in their description and in their practice First then I say that by these four Beasts we are to understand the four Evangelists 1. Saint Matthew by the Lion though Saint Gregory would have Saint Mark understood by it 2. Saint Luke by the Calf 3. Saint Mark by him that had the face of a man 4. Saint John by the flying Eagle For I finde two special things that may well confirm and make good this Exposition as first the manner of their description and secondly the general practice of the four For if you mark it they are described two manner of wayes 1. Generally 2. Particularly And first in their general and common description they are all alike for they had all six wings about them and they were all full of eyes And secondly in their Practice they all sung the same song saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty whis was which is and which is to come But in their particular or proper description each one of them differeth from the other as you see The first was like a lion the second like a calf c. So the four Evangelists in general aimed at the same thing to set forth the life and death of the Messiah and to bring us all to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Saviour of the world and that in believing on him we shall have eternal life But if we look into their more special end and aim we shall finde that each one of them differeth very much from the others For 1. 1 1. St. Matthew proves Christ to be a King St. Matthew seemeth principally to aim at the declaration of the Regal or Kingrick office of Christ and to prove him to be that Lion of Judah which the Jews long expected for to come to be their King to sit upon the Throne of David and to govern the people of God and this he proveth by many Arguments As 1. 1 1 Argument from his Pedegree Ambrosius in Luc. 3. A Prosapia from his Progenitors for he deriveth him lineally from King David and he reckoneth fourteen Kings in his Pedegree and after that he brings him from Zorobabel in the bloud royal unto Joseph Whereupon Saint Ambrose saith that St. Matthew deriving his generation by and from Solomon and St. Luke by Nathan they seem to shew Alteram regalem alteram sacerdotalem Christi familiam the one family to be from the Kings and the other from the Priests Quia fuit verè secundum carnem regalis sacerdotalis familiae because he was both of the Royal and of the Priestly family Et sic Rex ex Regibus Sacerdos ex Sacerdotibus and so both a King and a Priest 2. 2 2 Argument from the doings of the Magi. Numb 24. Saint Matthew proves him to be a King ab adoratione Magorum from the doings of the Wise-men for the Star of the Messias being prophesied of by Balaam and left as a Tradition among the Gentiles by Zoroastres King of the Bactrians that was excellent in all learning that it should appear to shew the birth of this King of Kings though Virgil flatteringly and falsly applyed it to Augustus saying Ecce Dionaei praecessit Caesaris astrum Yet these Magi being as St. Chrysostom writeth upon the Mountain Victorialis worshipping their God a Star did appear unto them in the likeness of a little childe Fulgent sol 657. in serm de Epiphan and they rejoycing thereat conceived that as Fulgentius saith Puer natus novam stellam fabricavit the long-expected childe being now born did create this fore-prophesied star to testifie his birth unto the world and therefore they did forthwith begin their journey to Jerusalem And how they came so great a journey in thirteen dayes after his nativity Rhemigius answereth Puer How the Magi came so speedily to Jerusalem ad quem properaverunt potuit eos in tam brevi spatio temporis ad se addueere The child to whom they hastned was able to help them in so short a space to come unto him and St. Augustine saith that Tres Magi iter unius anni in tredecim diebus peregerunt They performed in thirteen days the journey that might well require a whole year to finish it especially if you consider that these Magi were Kings themselves Cypr. in seâ—m de Baptismo Chrysost hom 6. in Matth. 2. Ps 72. 10. as St. Cyprian delivereth from the tradition of the Church and St. Chrysost dissenteth not much from his opinion when as the Prophet David saith to intimate the same thing The Kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts And now when these Magi these three Kings had found out this King they fell down and worshipped him for though as St. Chrysost saith Viderunt puerum hominem They saw this childe to be a man What the Magi did yet Agnoverunt redemptorem they acknowledged him to be their Redeemer And though he was In gremio pauperis matris positus pannis vilibus involutus nullum regiae dignitatis humanae signum habens lying in the lap of his poor mother and wrapped in vile clouts and without any sign of royal Majesty yet as both Chrysostom and Fulgentius say Ex stella didicerunt cum esse regem They were taught by the Star to understand that he was a King and therefore they did homage to him as to the king of kings and they offered to him gold myrrhe and frankincense the gold to shew his regal dignity the frankincense his deity quia thus ad honorem divinum concrematur and myrrhe to shew his mortality because they use to put myrrhe to the bodies of the dead And so by this their action they shewed 1. Their humility quia prociderunt because they fell down 2. Their Faith quia adoraverunt because they worshipped him And 3. Their Charity quia munera obtulerunt because they offered these their gifts unto him But how cometh this to pass Why the Magi do neglest Herod and adore Christ quod volunt adorare regem nuper natum infantem lactantem non adorant regem aute annos aliquot ordinatum populos imperantem That they will worship the King newly born and an infant sucking on his
better then the things of God II. Sensual men that have 5 yoke of Oxen and doe follow the lusts of their 5 Senses the lusts of the eyes and pride of life III. Lascivious wanton men that cry uxorem duxi and are led away with carnal pleasures Or as Saint Ambrose saith we may understand I. The Gentiles by him that said villam emi I bought a farme II. The Jews by him that said I bought 5 yoke of Oxen because they were under the heavy yoke of the Law and the 5 books of Moses that were such a yoke as that neither they nor their fathers could bear it and therefore they cryed out Psal 2. dirumpamus vincula let us break these bonds asunder and cast away these cords from us And III. The Heretiques Schismaticks and the like Fanatique Sectaries that are wedded to their own obstinate and foolish opinions which like Eva tempteth them and as another Dalilah destroyeth them may be understood by him that had married a wife and therefore neither could nor would obey the truth and so come unto the marriage of this King which is hâ—re shewed unto us by the Evangelist but tell us flatly they neither can nor will do it their wife which is their obstinate opinion will not suffer them The sixth Argument that Saint Matthew produceth to prove Christ to be a King 6 6 Argument is from the inscription of Pilate Jesus of Nazareth Beda in â—â—c King of the Jews Whereupon Beda saith that because he was both King and Priest together when he offered up that invaluable sacrifice of his flesh upon the Altar of his cross unto God his Father he fitly challenged and it was rightly given unto him the title of his royalty which did belong and was so due unto him and that title was written in Hebrew Greek and Latine which were and are the three most special languages of the World that all the World might read it and believe it that Christ by his cross non perdiderat sed potius confirmavit corroboravit imperium hath not lost but rather strengthened his right unto his kingdome So that although God suffered them to take away his life yet they could not take away his kingdom from him but when he was dead upon the cross yet still the title remained that he was Jesus of Nazareth king of the Jews And it was written in Hebrew in respect of the Jews that gloryed in their Law and in Greek in respect of the Gentiles that boasted of their wisdom and in Latine in respect of the Romans which then ruled and domineered over most and almost all the Nations of the World that the Jews will they nill they may see that omne mundi regnum omnis mundana sapientia omnia divinae legis sacramenta testantur quia Jesus est Rex every kingdom of the earth all the wisdom of the World and all the sacraments of the divine law do bear witness that Christ is King and this Lion here spoken of in this Text. And the difference betwixt this Lion and all other Lions is that as Franciscus Vallesius de sacra Philosophiaâ—c 55. saith Mos Leonis est sibi tantum praedam capere non Leaenae but Christ took the prey for his Church and not for himself And we finde that his kingdome by three special prerogatives excelleth all other kingdomes of the world that is 1 1. Pâ—ehemiâ—eâ—ce of Christs kingdome threefold 1. Eternity 2. Purity 3. Largity 1. The Prophet saith thy Throne O God Psal 110. is for ever and ever and thy Dominion shall endure throughout all Ages but transibit gloria mundi all other Kings within so many years shall not govern and after so many dayes they shall not be for death spareth none but sceptra ligonibus aequat And as Nazianzen saith Constantinus Imperator famulus meus ossa Agamemnonis Thyrsitis death makes no difference betwixt the bones of King Agamemnon and base Thyrsites the Emperour Constantine and my servant but when their race is run and their glass is out we may say of each of them as Horace saith of his Friend Torquatus Non Torquate genus non te sacundia Horâ—t nâ—n te Restituet pietas But this King hath a prerogative above them all for he was Rex à seculo a King from everlasting and he shall be a King in secula seculorum world without end for so the Angel Gabriel testifieth that of his kingdome there shall be no end Luke 1.33 And this should batter down the pride of Tyrants that say with Nebuchadnezzar Is not this great Babel that I have built For mene mene tekel peres their glory is but as the grass of the field or otherwise if they were immortal they were intolerable And this should teach us to labour to become the Subjects of this King in whose kingdome there shall be Aug. l 1 c. 10. de Trinitate as Saint Augustine saith requies sempiterna gaudium quod nunquam auferetur à nobis An everlasting rest and joy that shall never be taken from us The second preheminence of his kingdome is purity 2 2. Preheminence for of this King the Prophet speaketh thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity and the scepter of thy kingdome is a scepter of righteousness For this King is not like Ahab that would take away Naboths Vineyard nor like Rehoboam that would oppress his Subjects with over-grievous Taxes but he is a righteous King and a most just Judge far unlike some Judges of former dayes that for a word have made a man a transgressour and for a syllable or one letter have quite overthrown a mans cause and right and so have made the Laws a nose of wax to bend and turn as they pleased and to be rete Vulcanium like Vulcans iron net to catch the poor and friendless but tela aranea like the spiders web so easie for the rich and powerful to passe through it But blessed be God for it we have few such now and we hope we shall not provoke God so far as to send such amongst us for if you suffer oppression and wrongs when as the Poet saith Mensuraque juris vis erit Then surely peaceable men shall not be able to live in the Common-wealth But the equity and justice of this King should perswade all other Kings to follow his Example and as the wise man saith Sâ—p 1.1 to love righteousness all they that are Judges of the earth The third preheminence of his kingdome is 3 3. Preheminence that God anointed this King with the oyle of gladness in all things above his fellows for their time hath an end their dominion a limitation but his time is not limited and his rule hath no marches but exivit in omnem terram it hath gone forth into all Lands because he is the King of all the earth and when as all other Kings are but Reges Gentium Kings
unspeakable birth of Christ the Eagles eye doth behold a divine miracle in his accursed death it seeth a glorious victory and in his return from death it conceiveth an assured hope of everlasting life 2. 2 2. The lofty flight of the Eagle The next Property of the Eagle is her lofty flight for the Poets feign that the Eagle fled up to Heaven and laid there her eggs in Jupiter's lap and the Prophet Esay alludeth to her lofty flight Esay 40. ult when he saith that those which wait upon God shall renew their strength and shall lift up their wings as the Eagles Jexem 49.16 but Jeremiah goeth on further and saith that the Eagles do build their nests on high and yet Ezechiel goeth beyond them both for he saith that the great Eagle with great wings leng-winged full of feathers which had diverse colours came unto Lebanon Ezeth 17.3 and took the highest branch of the Cedar where you see she takes first the highest tree and then the highest branch of that tree I know it was a Vision that shewed the state of Jerusalem but yet you may see thereby the lofty flight of the Eagle So St. John flew as high as Heaven to begin his Gospel and so we considere debemus in coelis ought to have our mindes set Ephes 2.6 not on the fooleries and vanities of this world but on heavenly things and heavenly places that Esay 58.14 being mounted up super altitudines terrae above all the high places of the earth as the Prophet speaketh we may behold all the things of this world to be tanquam muscas but as gnats and flyes or like the spiders web that though it be never so curiously woven yet will it make no garment for us and so all the titles of honour to be but folia venti the windy blasts of a fleshly pair of bellows too weak an air to carry up a noble Eagle How to deem of all worldly things all the pleasures of this world to be but lilia agri like the lilies of the field that are more delectable in shew then durable for continuance and all the allectives under heaven to be but vanity of vanities and altogether vanities For thus by a contemplation and continual consideration of heavenly things it would appear unto us quam abjecta sunt qua jam alt videntur how base are all the things of this world in our judgements rightly informed which now seem so precious in our imaginations being corrupted And therefore if we would be like the noble Eagles What the spiritual men that are like the noble Eagle should doe mounting up to Heaven then as Moses builded his tent without the hoste and far from the hoste so should we build our habitation out of this world and far above the world and as Elias when he journeyed towards Heaven in his fiery Chariot and was flying up in a whirlwinde bestript himself of his mantle and threw it down to the earth lest the weight of it should presse him downward and so hinder his ascent to Heaven even so if we desire to ascend to Heaven we must bestrip our selves of all worldly impediments that are as heavy as a talent of lead and do not onely hinder us from ascending upwards but do press many men down to the bottomless pit And as the Prophet David in all distresses comforted himself with that pious meditation saying Whom have I in heaven but thee and what is there on earth that I desire in comparison of thee so do all those that make their unum necessarium their chiefest purpose and design to go to Christ to have an everlasting house and lands satisfie themselves with the hope of obtaining their desire And this is the reason that seeing God hath given them all that they have they weigh not a straw if they be driven to spend all that they have for the benefit and good of the Church of Christ and to promote the service of God And if the wise men of the world laugh at our folly and say we shall spend ten times more then we shall ever get We may answer that for our losses and expences they are but as feathers and that shall never trouble us but our hope is that we shall attain unto our desire which is to mount up with the rest of God's Eagles unto the Kingdom of Heaven and that will countervail all our losses And so much for the peculiar and proper Description of these Beasts THE SECOND SERMON REVEL 4.8 And the four Beasts had each of them six wings about him c. 2. 2 2. Their general and common description FOR their general and common description it is said they had each one of them six wings about him and they were all full of eyes Touching which you must observe 1. Some things about their wings 2. Some things about their eyes And 1. 1 1. Of their wings About their wings These two things are to be noted 1. What are these six wings 2. To what end they had these wings or what use they made of them 1. 1 1. What they are Rupertus and others say these six wings are the six works of mercy visito â—oto cibo redimo tego colligo fratres that is as our Saviour sets them down to give meat unto the hungry Matth. 25.35 drink unto the thirsty lodging to the stranger cloathe to the naked and to visit the sick and those that are in prison others understand hereby the six spiritual works of piety and mercy which are to correct the offendor to instruct and consell the ignorant to comfort the afflicted to bear patiently all injuries to forgive all trespasses and to pray for our enemies and persecutors but Balaeus and Lambert say that these six wings are faith hope charity justice mercy and truth and I think they come nearest unto the truth for by those six we shall be able to shun and flie away from all the mischeifs of the world and these six wings are able to mount us up unto our father in Heaven And they that have not these six wings are rightly said to be like the Ostrich which often spreads her wings but seldome flieth But they that have these six wings are most happy and need not fear the greatest dangers nor the malice of their greatest enemies For 1. Faith is radix omnium virtutum the root of all virtues and you know what mightie things Saint Paul setteth down to have been done through faith 2. Spes alit afflictos hope preserveth the afflicted and maketh not ashamed saith the Apostle 3. Charity covereth a multitude of sins and of all the three divine graces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest of them all is charity 4. Justice is such a cardinal virtue that Theognis a Heathen saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 justice comprehends all virtues 5. Our Saviour saith blessed are the mercifull for that they are sure to obtain
Son which was indeed the very staffe of his age though he was urged unto it with extreme necessity They that would see more examples of this kinde let them look into my Declaration against Sacriledge and Doctor Saravia's vindicie sacrae translated into English by James Martyn And if for all this men will needs have the portion of Gods Church let them eat it with that sauce which God hath prescribed in Psal 83. and which like the leprosie of Gehezi wil stick to them and their Posterity for evermore 3. As you heard that these Beasts were full of eyes within and behinde so they were full of eyes before 3 3. Why these beasts were full of eyes before and so should we be And that is to behold and see 1. Praesentia the things that are present 2. Futura the things that are to come and must come 1. For the present things I shall onely leave to your consideration 1 1. To behold the things that are present As 1. The vanity of all things 1. The vanities of this life And 2. The uncertainty of our state And touching the first Saint Augustine saith most truly Si quid arrisisset prosperum taedebat apprehendere quia priusquam pene teneretur avolabat if any prosperous thing in this world did seem to smile and offer it self unto me I was loath to take it because that before I could scarce enjoy it it was presently snatched from me For 1. Friends are like the waters of Tâ—ma sliding away and turning as the wheele of your fortune turneth 2. Riches saith the wise man betake themselves to their wings as an Eagle and the sea can drown it fire consume it servants waste it and thieves bereave us of it 3. Prov. 23.5 Honour is but Vertues shadow a winde that maketh fooles to swell but cannot satisfie any wise man 4. Beauty is such a thing as the Daughters of Vanity can tell you that the Sun will tanne it a scarr will blemish it sickness waste it and age consume it away as we read fair Helen wept when she saw the wrinckles of her old face which all your black patches cannot make young 5. And for our Health which is the greatest happiness in this life we see mans body is subject to a thousand diseases fraught with frailties within wrapped in miseries without uncertain of life and sure of death And so all the things of this world are but like the Apples of Sodome pleasant to the eyes and provoking to the appetite but vanishing into smoak when they are touched with the teeth And therefore our whole life is but painted over as some Ladies do their faces with vain semblances of Beauty and Pleasure and it is attended on the one side with whole troopes of sorrows sicknesses wants and discontents and on the other side with uncertainty of continuance and certainty of dissolution And 2. 2 2. The uncertainty of our state Rom. 9.21 For our state all is in the hand of God as the clay is in the hand of the Potter who can of the same lumpe make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour and the Heathens conceived all was at the disposing of fortune which they according to their ignorance took for God and said Te facimus fortuna Deam When they saw that as the Poet saith Vna eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit The same hand that hath cast us down can raise us up and the same God that raised us to honour can bring us down to the dust and can either prolong our dayes or cut them off at his pleasure And who then would not serve such a Master and be affraid to offend such a Lord as hath our life our wealth and our woe in his own hands and at his own disposing O consider this all you that forget God and think of it lest he take you away and tear you all to pieces or if this cannot move you to fear God Then 2. Cast your eyes before you 2 2. To look unto the things that are to come to look unto the things that are to come and must fall upon the world and they are many but especially and inevitably these four 1. Death 2. Judgement 3. Heaven 4. Hell And these are quatuor novissima terribilissima the four last things and the most terrible things that can be to all wicked men to think of them and they may serve as four excellent Preachers to disswade and terrifie all men from evil and to call them continually to the service of God For the Son of Syâ—ach saith Whatsoever thou takest in hand Eccles 7.36 remember the end and thou shalt never do amisse And 1. Death makes an end of our life 1 1. Of death and before it shuts the eyes of our bodies it commonly openeth the eyes of our consciences And then every man shall see his owne state though he seldome or never thought of the same before For 1. 1 1. The state of the wicked Revel 12.12 The wicked man shall see all his sins set before his face and Satan will now bestir himself to gain his soul for he knoweth that his turn is short and therefore he will tell him that if he would have entred into life Rom. 2.13 he should have kept the commandments that not the hearers but the doers of the Law shall be justified that if the just shall scarce be saved where shall he being such a wicked wretch as he is appear when as the Apostie tells him plainly that neither adulterer nor fornicator nor covetous person nor the like Traytor Rebel Perjurer 1 Cor. 6.9 10. or such other shall inherit the kingdome of God and so what the Preachers of God now cannot beat into the thoughts of these careless men this damned spirit will then irremovably settle in their deepest considerations O then what agonies and perplexities will tear the wofull hearts of these wicked men In that day saith the Lord I will cause the Sun to go down at noon Amos 8.9 10. and I will darken the earth in the clear day I will turn their feasts into mournings and their songs into lamentations that is I will make all those things that were wont most sweetly to delight them now most of all to torment them for now that pleasure which they had of sin shall turn to be as bitter as gall when they do see that as the Father saith transit jucunditas non reditura manet anxietas non peritura and now they must die and live they can no longer and Satan whose will they did and whose wayes they followed all their life will not forsake them at their death but will say Me you have served and from me you must expect your wages For so we read that the Devil assailed some of the best Saints as Saint Martin Saint Bernard Ignatius Eusebius and others and if these things be done in a green tree what shall