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
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.
therefore Christ proposeth a Parable that we should always pray Luke 18. Prayers are Arma Christianorum as Tertullian And I fear those weapons have been too often wanting in our Armies I am sure they were the weapons the best weapons in Moses days And you may see what made Joshua conquer Amalek and what put life into the Camp whiles Moses Cruce and Prece prevails with God Exod. 17.11 12. And the Apostle doth perchance allude to this 1 Tim. 2. when he requires men to pray Lifting up pure hands every where much more when we expose our lives to the Casualties of War When the Hoste goeth forth against thine Enemies then keep thee from every wicked thing Deut. 23.9 then especially then or never When Judah is in Captivity or danger then pour out thy soul in Prayer to God and then especially then or never Audi Domine the second thing observable To whom Moses doth direct his Prayer Hear Lord not hear Abraham hear Isaak or if those Patriarchs were then in Limbo as our Neighbours tell us yet methinks they should have another conceit of Enoch whom God took away Gen. 5. nay translated him that he should not see death Heb. 11.5 And yet 't is not Hear Enoch but Hear Lord. Vnto thee will I direct my prayer Psal 5. Whom have I in Heaven but thee Psal 73.25 To him therefore to him let us make our Addresses in all our Troubles for He calls He commands Venite ad me And doubtless that of Isai Chap. 63. is sound Divinity in the New Testament also Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel knows us not And those Saint-Servants may remember what Tertullian upbraided the Heathen withal in his days Vos Irreligiosi qui eam that is health and help Quaeritis ubi non est petitis à quibus dari non potest praeterito eo in cujus potestate est God is a Jealous God and will not have his Honour given to another Now as 't is Hear Lord so 't is Hear Lord the voyce of Judah Moses the Magistrate or if you will Moses the Priest For Moses and Aaron among his Priests Psal 99.6 Moses prayeth for Judah that 's not enough Judah must pray for himself also whether it be Judah the Warriour or Judah the Law-giver Psal 60. In War in Peace Judahs Prayer must be heard Hear Lord the voyce of Judah St. Peter bid Simon Magus repent and pray to God Acts 8. But what saith Simon pray ye to the Lord for me 'T is true Abrahams Prayer is heard for Abimeleck Moses is heard for Pharaâ—h Micha is perswaded of Gods favour for getting a Priest into his house Obed-Edom thrives for giving harbour to the Ark And the Shunamites Cost bestowed upon Elisha was not in vain 'T is true Oratio Justi oratio efficax multum valet as St. James said The fervent Prayer of a righteous man availeth much But Pray ye to the Lord for me is not enough Your own Repentance must make way for the Priests Prayers and your Prayers must go along with Theirs Judah's voyce must be heard as well as Moses's Prayer His heart is not enough God requires his voyce also I hate those Pharisaical Long-prayers and those cryed-up Bablers of the times so much say I of our Hypocritical Zealots whose House-reading is Roaring and their loud Prayers give Alarums to their sleeping Neighbours and what they do is to be known of men Intra in Conclave saith our Saviour Matth. 6. When thou prayest retire thee to thy Closet and shut the Door c. That 's for thy private Prayers but in the Church do the Works of the Church If thou be of the Congregation bear a part with the Congregation Let thy tongue tell me thy hearts awake I know Hannah prayed with the heart her lips only moved her voyce was not heard Her Sex perchance required that Modesty And she well knew the place she prayed in But surely the Godly cannot always contain themselves They will they must break out Tears and Desires will seek for vent Concalvit cor meum intra me saith David Psal 39. Mine heart was hoâ— within me the fire kindled and at the last I spake with my tongue And in this posture shall you most while find the Saints in their Prayers Moses cries to the Lord Exod. 8. Samuel crieâ— to the Lord 1 Sam. 7. Thus the Israelites thus David almost every where Clamavi ad Dominum In the 142 Psalm 2. v. I poured out my Complaints before him so we read The Tremelâ—ian reads it I poured out my Meditations before him not Quicquid in Buccam venerit not those sudden Raptures and ex tempore-long-winded-prayers of our New-gifted Pharisees But I poured out my Meditations I durst not offer any indigested unpremeditate-Prayers I Conclude this part Non vox sed votum The Heart as 't is the principal part of the body and seat of life so is it the principal part and life of our Prayers wherefore the heart must in no case be away But as our Saviour said upon another occasion These things ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone Heart and Tongue let both in Gods name go together Give him both that made both So will God hear the voyce of Judah The Second part followeth And bring him unto his people or as the Tremellian reads it Reduce bring him back Bring him home again unto his People Who hath not read the misery of Kings and Princes in all Ages Their Captivities Banishments and unthought-of Deaths How many have attended the triumphant Chariots at Rome Or who hath not heard of Bajazets Cage or Sapor's Foot-stool Many have gone forth but vestigia nulla retrorsum They wanted this Blessing of Judah God brought them not back unto their People But I shall keep my self to Israel and Judah those great Examples of Gods Justice and Mercy The Rebellious Israelites did a long time prosper at length losing their Religion they lost withal Gods Favour and their dearest Country They were totally Conquered made Captives and A never to Return did seal up their sorrows They left the Commandments of their God and their God left them He was angry very angry with Israel so that the Lord removed them out of his sight 2 Kings 17.18 They lost not only their Power and their Country but their Name also None left but the Tribe of Judah only in the same place And Moses's Blessing did not depart from Judah Still a Duc and a Reduc followed him God brings out David from the Philistins and Joash out of the Temple Manasseh is carried into Babylon yet God brought him back again 2 Chron. 33. And Jehoiachin after 37 years Captivity comes out of Prison to a Throne Still God rememembred Judah Afterwards follow those Indulgencies of Cyrus and Darius Judahs full Restorement They to their Country and one of their own to govern them Moses's Prayer still takes place Judah was brought back unto his People We have
the same Prayer to make for our Gracious Soveraign after so many pressures places and strange People O Lord bring him bring him back bring him home But where be those People of his he must be brought unto Amon was an Idolater and one that forsook the Lord His Servants conspired against him and slew him in his own House The people of the Land slew all them that had conspired against the King and made Josiah 's Son King in his stead in the 2 of Kings 21. We had no Amon no Idolater but A Defender of the Faith and for that very cause Martyred by his own Subjects and in his own House as the other was But where are Populus suus those People of the Land to kill the Conspirators and Crown Josiah Where be those his People we would have him brought unto Shall the Presbyterians be the men 'T were strange they should They that brought the first Fewel to that prodigious Fire They that swore against him fought against him betrayed sold their Innocent Master They that disavowed that Cement by which the Church of Christ hath been firmly knit together ever since there was a Church Apostolick upon the Earth I mean Episcopacy The Independents can be none of them they have cut themselves off from all Communion with the Holy Catholick Curch by their professed Factions Fractions and Independencies They cut off that Sacred Head and Quantum in Ipsis all future hopes that Root and Branches should ever bud forth and sprout again Both these have sold themselves to work wickedness And though their heads look several ways like Samsons Foxes yet each carries fire in his tail to burn the Church and Common-Wealth Manasses against Ephraim and Ephraim against Manasses yet both against Jadah Both Anti-Monarchical and the Kingdoms Bane Both can agree together to devest the Sion of Judah from his innate and just Authority To give these men the Right hand of Fellowship to joyn with either of these were to partake of their Sins and render our selves guilty of that Sacred Bloud their hands have spilt To joyn with them were to Justifie all their Infernal and unparalell'd Actions O my Soul come not thou into their secrets O God Divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel Where are those People then our Judah must be brought unto What to Complyers and Compounders whose Moneys have fomented those Wars and their Examples have encouraged the Rout of Rebels in their wickedness I fear I fear these are some of Gomers Children in the first of Hosea Sure in that glorious Martyrs phrase if not imbrued yet are they besprinkled with Royal Bloud Let no man tell me He gave but a Little or he gave unwillingly A little Leaven leaveneth the whole Lump And there can be no pretext for Sin Marcus Arethusius an holy Bishop had caused an Idol-Temple to be overthrown in Constantines days afterwards when Julian came to be Emperour He commanded the said Temple should be built again at the cost of the Country and because the Bishop would Contribute nothing thereunto the People launced his Body with Pen-knives and anointing him all over with Hony they set him naked in the Sun to be stung with Wasps At length they offer him Life and liberty if he would give never so little if but one half-peny to the Work nor would he give that Half-peny to save his Life Cicero tells us of one Philoxenes A Courtier A Poet that chose rather to be condemned in Lapidicinas to live a Slave a Quarry-man rather than he would speak against his Conscience in favour of Dionysius And Papinian the greatest Lawyer of his time chose rather to die than to defend Caracalla for murthering of his Brother Geta. O poor Compounders I pity their Case God give them Grace to Relent Repent and make their Composition with God too But truly they are at present in a sad Condition Laodiceans nor hot nor cold Vestertilio's or Bats nor Mice nor Birds Men and no Men You know Panarchs Riddle Tytides in the Trojan War or as Suffetius in Hostilius's days Populus and no Populus I am sure not Populus suus never cut out to be Martyrs for Religion nor truly Loyal to their Soveraign And yet hath our Judah his People a truly Faithful and Religious people such as much scorn to bow the Knee to those Rebellious Monsters Such as abhor all Covenants and Negative Oaths Such as with Arethusius will lose their Liberty Livelyhood Lives and All rather than Compound contribute or give one Penny to that cursed Crew who have destroyed their Country Religion Monarchy And that King Quo non surrexit melior After-Chronicles will speak Him the best of Kings worthy of better Subjects a longer Life and a more timely Death O Lord bring our Judah back to that People that faithful Conscientious and oppressed People Methinks I hear a voyce like that of the Vision Acts 16.9 Trajice in Macedoniam Come over Come over into your own Country and to your own People and help us These are they of whom may be said what St. Pauls Nephew said of others Acts 23. They are ready and look but for an Opportunity And I hope we shall find that true of them which Tertullian spake of the Christians in his days Singuli magis Noti quam omnes They are a Numerous People Good and Many And as Joab said 2 Sam. 24. The Lord God add unto the people how many soever they be an hundred-fold and that the Eyes of my Lord the King may see it And to this People His People Reduc eum bring him back speedily and in safety too The Third part followeth Let his hands be sufficient for him What is meant by Hands in Scripture you well know Psal 78. They remembred not his Hand nor the day when he delivered them from the Enemy Psal 80. Let thy Hand be upon the man of thy right Hand Psal 144. Send thine Hands from above rid me and deliver me out of the great waters from the Hand of strange Children The Hand being the Instrument of Power and Execution Hence say we that Milites sunt Manus Imperatoris The Souldiers are the Generals Hands And Manus Militum are a Band of Men. So then Let his hands be sufficient for him Let him have Force sufficient of his own to defend his Right and beat down his Enemies To implore Forraign Forces hath ever been usual and yet more usual than safe But Necessitas cogit ad tristia Alphonso King of Naples had recourse for Aid to the Great Turk The Council of Mantua resolved to flee thither in Favour of their Marquess kept Prisoner by the Venetians And some such thing is said of our King John Periculosa Remedia and one main cause of the Ottoman Greatness Many with Adoniah have craved a Boon but to their own Destruction and called in those they were never able to drive out again Thus did the Roman State in former times restore divers
thirst after Blood after his Blood There is a saying in Philosophy that violent motions slacken by degrees the longer the lesser the softer These men impugn the very principles of Nature and their violent motions grow more violent A malo ad pejus Betray him deny him and kill him too In the 19. of St. Luke the Parable goes no farther than Nolumus hunc Regnare Fare-him-well He might live but he must not be their King But these men cry Nolumus hunc vivere Cut him off he must not live Deprivation of a Crown is not enough unless it be of Life too No nor is it enough to kill him He must die of all Deaths the most disgraceful and ignominious Death For whereas the Jews had four kinds of Death appointed for Malefactors Stoning Burning Decollation and Suffocation None of these will serve the turn and therefore they deliver him over to Pontius Pilate that he might die that worst of Deaths that death the Romans inflicted upon the basest sort of People the bitterest and the basest Death Vt simul honor persona Christi Crucifigeretur as St. Augustine saith They would kill his good Name as well as his Body Constantine the Emperour did afterward forbid this kind of Death should be inflicted upon any Ne salutare signum serviret ad pernitiem so Sozomenus And this is all I shall say of the Fecistis the Did it VOS FECISTIS follows You Did it You as well as your Rulers You the Common sort of People You that cryed Crucifige Away with him Crucifie him You killed him in that you Cryed to have him Crucified to have him killed You are guilty of that blood the Souldiers shed And though they were loath to hear it Acts 5.28 God forbid this mans blood should be laid to their Charge Yet Vos primores Vestri Rulers and People all were involved in the same Sin Interficiebant quem interficiendum offerebant as St. Augustine said They who conducted him to Pilate and they who cryed for Justice at Pilates hands All Murtherers Guilty All. O wretched World They who flocked to him from all parts who followed him by thousands who climb Trees to see him Untile houses to come to him who say Never man did as this man did They who cut down Branches spread their Garments in the way for him to tread upon They who sang Hosanna's with a Benedictus to him Mark 11.9 These are that VOS the self-same Men who presently after within the compass of a week call for Justice at the hands of Pilate and nought but that Innocent Bloud can quench their thirst Constat de Facto They are All guilty You did it And yet I wot saith our Apostle that through Ignorance ye did it If one man sin against another the Judge shall Judge him but if a man sin against the LORD who shall intreat for him Ely's words 1 Sam. 2. Now these men sinned against the Lord of Life and who doth first plead for them but the Lord of Life Nesciunt quid faciant Father forgive them they know not what they do Luke 23.34 They did it through Ignorance so Christ And St. Peter after his Master I know that through Ignorance ye did it mitigating extenuating and directing them to a Resipiscite the only salve for that soar Let us see then First of Ignorance what it is Secondly of these Jews Ignorance Thirdly how far this Ignorance of theirs might excuse them Ye did it of Ignorance The Schools distinguish of Nescience and Ignorance Nescience is simplex scientiae Negatio or Negative Ignorance and this may be nay is in Saints in Angels A finite Nature cannot have an infinite power and therefore of necessity must be ignorant in many things Ignorance is the privation of Knowledge and 't is two-fold Lawful and Vnlawfull Of those things which we may know and of those things which we are bound to know We may know many things which we are not bound to know but may be ignorant of them without sin Aristodemus the Philosopher bestowed many years in searching out the Nature of the Bee which yet he could not compass so Augustine Another in Tertulllian Sexcentos execuit ut Naturam hominis inveniret Anatomized six hundred men to find the Nature of Man and he came short of his desire In the Day of Judgment men shall not be judged and condemned for their Ignorance in Logick Astronomy Musick and the like but for the neglect of that Duty they were bound to perform so the same Augustine Now in those things which we are bound to know there is a double Ignorance The one they call Simple the other Gross or Affected The first Quo simplicior eò tutior The more simple the more pardonable Of this St. Augustine Temeritas poenam habet Ignorantia promeretur veniam Resolved rash wilful undertakers must expect a plague when honest Ignorance will find favour And this I take to be St. Pauls Case A Blasphemer a Persecutor and Injurious but all through Ignorance 1 Tim. 1.13 And therefore saith he I obtained Mercy And being better informed you have him by and by a Better man and no way disobedient to the Heavenly Vision There is another which they call gross or affected Ignorance When he that is ignorant will be ignorant still He doth quench the motions of the Spirit Slights the dictates of his own Conscience Neglects to enquire or use the means whereby he may be better informed Thus the Sadduces They did erre not knowing the Scriptures Matth. 22.29 They would not know them But as the Psalmist saith of such like They know not neither will they understand but walk on still in darkness Psal 82. From these mens Ignorance The Lord Deliver us Now which of these was the Jews Ignorance Our Saviour tells us Matth. 13.14 15. The Heart of this people is waxed gross and their Ears are dull of hearing and their Eyes have they closed least they should see with their Eyes and hear with their Ears and understand with their Heart and should be converted and I should heal them Occaluerunt Rom. 11. stark stupid and sensless men They know not the voyce of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath day Acts 13. No excuse here And therefore they are not only said to kill our Saviour but Manibus sceleratis by wicked hands they killed and Crucified him Pilates or worse than Pilate He feared Caesar these men feared not GOD A Sin a monstrous malicious matchless Sin Most gross Ignorance but still Ignorance Scio quod per Ignorantiam and Ignorance Repented shall find favour Nay every pardonable Sin hath some Ignorance or other annexed to it Either they examine not the greatness of that Sin they do commit which divers Circumstances do aggravate and make greater As The Party against whom we offend The Example we give The Scandal we leave The small Reason we had to do it nay The strong Reasons vve had against it Or they do
entertain every broken Cause for his Fee If a Toby who if he hear the bleating of a Kid cryes redde away with it restore it no stollen Goods shall come within his Doors If a Timothy who will be sure to keep his Faith and a good Conscience If a Licurgus who contra Gentes will restore the Crown to the right owner and be a faithful Subject rather than a perfidious Usurper Mark such considerate Behold them thorowly such just such upright men for the end of such men is peace Which is the second General Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Here 's the Reward of his Integrity and Holiness Here 's David's Beatus vir Psal 1. As for the ungodly it is not so with them but they are like the chaff which the wind scattereth away from the face of the Earth Psal 73. Ponuntur in Praecipitiis They are set in slippery places and in a moment brought to desolation Cut off from the Earth and rooted out of it for their transgressions Prov. 2. the last Verse Their memory all shall rot But finis hujus hominis pax He may encounter with many difficulties in the course of his life and many miseries may intervene But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pax His last end is Peace In the ninth of St. Matthew you have one twelve years diseased at length a Physician was found who could and did cure In the fifth of John one lies impotent thirty eight years at the Pool Bethesda at length comes one who with a Surge makes him sound Another blind from his Nativity with an easie remedy came seeing John 9. So as I said the good man meets with many difficulties in the course of his life But Finis pax All 's well at last his end is happy I see Abraham driven from place to place at one time ready to starve another time his wife in jeopardy to loose her honour crossed in his Children unhappy in his Friends Kinred every way and yet his Bosome now a receptacle for the Saints of God As much might I say of Moses Elias and many others Yea John the Baptist whose head was smitten from his Body yet was not that his last end But that which was said of him Multi in ejus Nativitate gaudebunt afterwards came to pass the day of his Birth was made sacred to all Posterity and was solemnized by the very Heathen themselves in St. Bernards dayes Take heed therefore what Conclusions you draw from the present condition or success of things Thus did Shimei deal by David Nunc ad calculos redactus est Come out thou bloudy man thou man of Belial now thou payâ—st for all the blood that hath been shed 2 Sam. 16. Yet shortly after you have him on his knees and begging pardon The King is restored the Rebels perish Thus did the Barbarians pass sentence on St. Paul Acts 28. A murderer whom Vengeance suffered not to live Yet shortly after their minds are changed and they take him for a God Thus do our Adversaries who puffed up with their success and our misfortunes conclude thence as the Turk may do as much the goodness of their Cause But stay our last end is not yet come no nor theirs neither Ante obitum nemo c. You know what Solon said And though I undertake not to Devine yet I dare say with him Num. 16.29 If these men die the common death of all men then the Lord hath not sent me However there 's an end and a last end and that Balaam saw when he would have his last end like the Israelites Numb 23. And Amalek might die in his bed but his last end was to perish everlastingly Numb 24. And therefore in Moses's words and Mose's wish God make us wise and that we may consider our last end 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I am sure 't will go well with the perfect and upright man at the last his end or his last end will sure be Peace There is a fourfold peace First a Peace from War and that is the peace of the Common-wealth Secondly the Peace of the Body the Eucrasie and temperature of the Humours A peace from Sickness and Diseases Thirdly The peace of Conscience a peace from sin and sins deserved punishments Fourthly A Peace supra pacem such a peace as never shall be taken from us in the highest Heavens eternal peace First The Peace of our Country and Common-wealth were a Peace much to be desired Pax optima rerum Quas homini novisse datum est pax una triumphis Innumeris potior Silius 'T is bonum desiderabile as she said of the Tree Gen. 3. O those blessed dayes when men might sit down under their own Vine and Fig tree and might eat the labours of their own hands When they were not awaked with the Drum and Trumpet nor terrified with the clashing of Armour and the violence of Souldiers Veteres migrate Coloni was not heard in our Streets But the Mountains did bring peace Psal 72. The barren Mountain requited the cost bestowed on them plentifully A blessed peace and this by Gods grace we shall have in the end And yet secondly Behold a better Pax Corporis The peace of the Body Abraham was much disquieted for want of Children Gen. 15. Ahab for his Neighbours Vineyard Haman at the very sight of Mordecai Hoster 5. So much troubled that neither his Riches Children nor Honour nought could do him good as long as he saw Mordecai the Jew sitting at the Kings Gate And if he had his purpose in this too yet what would all avail him if he could not have his health The gouty Cardinal would give his Cardinals Cap a thousand times that he might be freed of his Disease Let him speak who hath the Stone or Strangury nay be it but the Tooth-ach his courage strength appetite all is gone The Valetudinary man is like St. Pauls widow Vivens mortua 1 Tim. 5.6 as good as dead while he is alive So that Pax corporis the health of the body is no small blessing and God hath blessed the most of us with this And yet is not this Pax illa Thirdly there is another and a better peace The Peace of Conscience and this may he have who with Lazarus sits at Dives gate or with distressed Job lies stinking on a Dung-hill He fears not though the Earth be moved and the Mountains carried into the middest of the Sea This Peace had the Saints and Martyrs in the height of their Torments Now begin I to be Corn for my Saviour saith one And verte aliud latus saith another rosting on the Gridiron There was Justitia causae justitia personae both the Cause was good the Sufferers perfect and upright and therefore all went well whiles the Mind and Conscience was at peace This made David say I will lay me down in peace and sleep yea even then when his Enemies compassed him round
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
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 〈◊〉 〈◊〉