he is made a greater vassal than the poorest of his Subjects themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage 2 Pet. ii 19. What appearance of soveraignty was in the voluptuous Licinius Of whom Tacitus says Tanta torpedo invaserat animum ut si principem eum fuisse caeteri non meminissent ipse oblivisceretur Such a stupidness had possessed his mind that unless others had been mindful towards him that he was a Prince himself would have forgot it You see then there is no freedom but by killing the strength of sin and living unto God in new obedience if by one offence death reigned by one they that receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ Rom. v. 17. Sin holds the sinner under tyranny grace makes the righteous man reign in this life it is the Apostles phrase Therefore Christ who gives us freedom despised not to be called a servant to his Father Thou art my servant O Israel in whom I will be glorified Isa xlix 3. Thirdly That fawning heathen did humour his Patron for this reason Et habet quod det dat nemo largius So the Lord hath all manner of riches in store and he withholdeth no good thing from those that serve him No Master in the world is so munificent to reward his Ministers Let me borrow it from the Queen of Sheba's mouth what she said of Solomons attendants to apply it to those of Gods houshold that perform the task he sets them Happy are these thy servants that stand continually before thee being now made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life Rom. vi 22. The poor bondman among the heathen had no more wages than food for all his drudgery the more hard-hearted they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Aristotle give a bond-slave provender like a beast and he is paid for his labour Did God ever use any of his retinue that serve him so hardly They have all their meat in due season and plenteously says he in the Parable How many hired servants are there in my Fathers house that have meat enough Yet this is nothing I may say to the remainder this is but the Alms-basket of his liberality What say you to this That he gave his only Son to redeem his servant and that the Servant might be spared even that most beloved Son did undergo the most bitter death of the Cross and all this that such servants as forgot the Lord who had done so great things for them and rebelled against him might be co-heirs with Christ in his Kingdom Who would not serve such a Master If he say go who would not make speed to follow If he say do this who would not do it He hath given us such hire more than all the world beside can lay down that we will worship the Lord our God and he only shall be served I should wrong the matter I handle if this question were not moved How we should feel the comfort in our selves that we serve the Lord I answer by a Negative by an Affirmative examination Negatively when we think that we have never laboured enough in our Lords Vineyard to earn our peny Or as it is elsewhere very clearly set down to take away all boasting from our works when we have done all we can say we are unprofitable servants The Affirmative Collection may be best drawn from a saying of Christs Mat. vi 24. No man can serve two Masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will cleave to the one and despise the other Here I gather that the two notes of a good servant are deligere adhaerere to love and to cleave fast to his Master Those Servants that loved King David such as Hushai and Ittai and Ahimaaz would take part with him to the death in Absolons rebellion those were good Servants It was love that made Jacob such a diligent Shepherd under Laban to suffer heat and frost Laban never had the like to tend his flocks A servant that takes a delight to please you may trust him with any thing both for Faith and Diligence Nemo meliùs obtemperat quà m qui ex caritate obsequitur says St. Ambrose no man will obey God better or go further to discharge his Law then he that is rouzed up by the zeal of love and charity But he that doth the Lords work without pleasure and delight doth it with unwillingness unwillingness breeds sloath and between these all their service is left-handedly performed as if it were never intended Si quid invitus facis fit de te magis quà m id facis says Prosper Whatsoever you did grudgingly without love it was drawn from you but never done by you and as if you had not been the doer you shall never be rewarded Beside deligere I said there was adhaerere a good servant was no flincher but stuck close not a Fugitive as Jonas was not an Apostate as Demas was not one that began in the Spirit and ended in the Flesh the Galatians were thought to be bewitched that did so The Bond-man in the Old Law that loved his Master though the time of his releasement was come about would be bored through the ear for a ceremony that he would never part from him St. Paul was the fast man above all we read of that was glued unto the service of the Gospel Neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yet I will end this Point in the words of one of our own Prelates a faithful Minister of God bestirs himself with respect to that one Master to whom he cleaves in all the works of his Vocation Ac si nihil aliud esset in hôc mundo praeter illum ac Deum As if there was none in the world but himself and God himself to obey and God to be served with all possible diligence This cleaving fast unto one Master doth link it self in with the next Point that the Lord God is only to be worshipped and served Let it not start your patience that I name it now the time is past I am not about to huddle it up at this time being the most copious subject and of the choicest variety in my judgment in all Divine Learning But this Doctrine you shall carry away with you at this time It is no impediment for Servants to shew all diligent duty to their Masters on earth because one verse of the Gospel says No man can serve two Masters and because my Text says of our Lord in heaven him only shalt thou serve Him only indeed in Religious Service in Divine Worship and Adoration he
Hell and to all Judaea that the Son of God about that instant as I do verily believe did break the gates of Brass and smite the bars of death in sunder It was heard to heaven and the Angel came down at his qu as soon as ever that triumphal sign was given wherein I have given you my opinion and not mine alone but of sundry others that the coming of the Angel was not a cause but a consequent of the Earthquake Tremuit terra non quia Angelus descendit de coelo sed quia ab inferis dominator ascendit The ground trembled not because the Angel descended from above but because the Conquerour ascended from beneath And I know not a prettier diversion in all the Scripture to put off that which might be expected than this is Who would not look that the story should run thus Behold there was a great Earthquake for Christ arose from the dead But the Holy Ghost to keep that Circumstance out of our knowledge at what time he arose did divert it in this manner Behold there was a great Earthquake for the Angel even at that instant and occasion came down from heaven And as heaven did partake of this noise when the earth was moved so I doubt not but the horror of it went down to Hell and troubled the Spirits that abide in chains of darkness for ever In all likelihood this great body of the world did quake from the Superficies to the Center of the Earth And Luther was possessed with this pious credulity that in this Earthquake the ground was parted with a large Hiatus from the Sepulcher to Hell and in the moment of that concussion of the ground our Saviour arose to life descended visibly to Hell made shew of his Resurrection there that Satan and Death were under his feet and presently came out of the Pit which could not shut its mouth against him As Luther may enjoy his own conjecture so thus far we may concur that the terrour of the Earthquake did penetrate to the Kingdom of the Devil And how far the Inhabitants of Judaea were affrighted at it it appears in the most couragious in the band of Souldiers who were tumbled to the ground at the noise like the stone which was rouled from the mouth of the Sepulcher and no marvel for St. Hierom either by his own perswasion or by tradition delivers that the rumbling of the earth was so great Vt cuncta concuteret eversionem terrae funditus minaretur That it josselled every thing together and threatned the subversion of this Universe To what end have I amplified it thus far but to make you conceive it fell out immediately through the wonderful hand of the Almighty Philastrius in his 54 Heresie enrolls it for an Heresie Si quis terram moveri putet naturaliter If any man shall say that an Earthquake comes to pass by naturall causes there he went beyond the Line for it appears evidently in Philosophical inquisitions that exhalations and hot air may be instrangled within the bowels of the earth and seeking a way for a larger room or else to get forth it breaks out with a terrible violence and removes some parts of this heavy Element To deny this were to put out the eye of reason Yet in this Earthquake that pertains to my Text I assent that there was no preparation of natural causes to produce it For just when our Saviours soul went out of the body at his Passion and just I think at the moment when his soul returned again into the body at the Resurrection the earth was smitten in a wonderful manner that the world might take notice that the like was never heard or seen And as I do resolutely conclude This motion of the Earth was supernatural so I hold off from the usual opinion that the Angel was made Gods instrument of the execution the manner the consequence of it so great that I am perswaded it was immediately the work of Christ himself Leo cubile in quo habitat tremere fecit says Chrysologus rationally and elegantly The Lion rouzed himself up from sleep the Lion of the Tribe of Judah roared and made his own den to quake Inferiour operations are committed to the Creatures the chief abide in God When Lazarus was raised from the dead says Christ to the Disciples Take ye away the stone and afterward being come forth of the Cave Do ye loose him and let him go So the Angel was an actor in the noble work of this day to roul away the grave-stone to dismay the Souldiers to comfort Mary Magdalen and the other women to preach the mystery to all But it was Christ himself that shook the ground from the Superficies to the Center this Ecce this Behold me seems bids us behold how it came from God and not from his Minister the Angel and behold there was a great Earthquake I remove forward to that which is more useful to be taught from the efficient to the final cause for what purpose was this great trembling and concussion of the earth at the Resurrection of our Saviour I will set forth six reasons First it makes us conceit that there was a great strugling and a combate between Christ and Death Death was brought unto the Bar impleaded before Almighty God divested by just judgment from all power found guilty because the guiltless and innocent was slain It was permitted to seize upon us Prisoners But it spared not the Judge himself which is Christ We that are slaves and servants were put under the dominion of it and Death presumed to offer violence to our Lord it was suffered to rage against men and it was bold to assault God Death according to the great Doom was the wages of sin how justly is the yoke of its tyranny broken when it became the murtherer of righteousness But how hardly would it lay down the authority which it had so long usurped over all mortal flesh So many Patriarchs so many Prophets Quo Tullus Dives Ancus so many Princes and Kings whose bodies crumbled into dust and their ashes were never made whole again and when this Law which had so long continued was to be broken what could be expected but that the earth would groan and struggle against the Resurrection When I speak of Death you know that I mean the Devil who had the power of death he had deluded himself with this fallacy Cruce vivus non descendit quomodo sepulchro mortuus ascendet Christ came not down from the Cross when he was alive how will he be able to come out of the Grave when he is dead He that had so much cunning was best able to deceive himself but with what resistance and murmuring the Prey was taken out of his mouth it is best set down thus briefly instead of a large description Behold there was a great Earthquake Secondly It betokens what noise and tumult there shall be in
the same end to make us magnifie God for his Wisdom Goodness and Justice Nay I add compare the Law of Works imposed upon Adam and the Law of Faith imposed upon Christians and both of them are possible to be done For the first man according to the integrity wherein he was created and by the virtue of supernatural Grace bestowed upon him might have obeyed the Commandement given if he had not turned to disobedience and by the Divine help of the same grace we to whom God hath preached the glad tidings of his Son are endewed with power to believe that we may be saved Now in a word let us lay the difference of these two one against another God gave the Law in Paradise as a King in his Justice but he gave the Gospel in Sion as a Father of Grace and Mercy according to that Law the reward had been given ex debito by debt and due say the Schoolmen but to him that believes the reward is given by mere Grace which excludes boasting He that disobey'd that Law was to look for the most strict severity of Justice so condemnation belongs likewise to the unbeliever according to Justice but perhaps it shall be temper'd with some moderation for Christs sake Finally this is the main disagreement the first Covenant made with Adam did exclude all hope of remission of sins but the second Covenant made in Christ runs in this tenour to them that live by Faith your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquities forgotten After you have understood the first point how there was a Law imposed upon Adam when he was created and endewed with original Justice you must now give ear to the next thing in order what heavy and astonishing matter is contained in that Law which was given by Moses to the Children of Israel and remember that I consider the Law deliver'd in the two Tables at Mount Sinai Seorsim and by it self separated from all the promises contained in the Prophets and in the Psalms of David These then are the remarkable differences between the Covenant written in Tables of stone and this Covenant of the New Testament in the Blood of Christ First God gave the Law at Sinai being wrath with our sins for whereas we had lost both the wisdom of our understanding and the loyal obedience of our will by the transgression of our first parent yet God impos'd his Commandement upon us and exacts such measure of holiness which we are not able to perform Therefore that Law was given in the barren Wilderness because it is not able to bring one soul unto God likewise it was delivered with signs full of wrath thunder and lightning and a dreadful noise to shew that God was full of indignation when he laid it upon us On the contrary he made the new Covenant of peace being reconciled to them that were lost or at least proffering reconciliation in his beloved Son Read this Doctrine Heb. xii from the 18. to the 24. verse Ye are not come to the Mount that might not be touched and that burnt with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which they that heard entreated they might hear it no more They could not endure that which was commanded And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake but ye are come to Mount Sion and to the City of the living God c. Wherefore the Gospel was presented with manifest tokens of love and benevolence Ecce Evangelizo behold I bring you good tidings 2. There 's a difference arising between the first Testament and the last from the several Mediators that came between God and the people Moses was a servant faithful in the Family and he was the Mediator of the Old Testament Christ is the Son and Heir of all he was the Mediator of the New The Law was given by Moses Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ 3. The old Covenant was ratified with the blood of Beasts but loe the New Covenant doth much surpass it which was ratified with the precious Blood of that immaculate Lamb which took away the sins of the world which is therefore called the Blood of the New Testament 4. The old Law in St. Paul's phrase contained poor and beggerly rudiments not able to bring to life It was a killing letter the ministry of death and condemnation it worketh wrath it entred that sin might abound it is like Hagar which gendreth children unto bondage Gal. iv 24. The Gospel is the power of salvation to every one that believeth a quickening Spirit it purgeth us from our sins it speaketh better things than the blood of Abel 5. That which Moses brought was an heavy burden which neither the Fathers nor the Children could bear but of the Gospel Christ saith his yoke is easie and his burden is light and in it you shall find rest for your souls Lastly the Old Testament endured unto Christ and no longer wherefore because it passed away it is called the Old the New Testament remaineth for ever so says St. Paul of our Blessed Saviour taking flesh who is not made after the Law of a carnal Commandment but after the power of an endless life No passage or comparison can be made between them but the Law given at Mount Sinai will appear to be an harsh and most unwelcome injunction and that which doth clear us from the curse thereof is Evangelium the best tidings that ever arriv'd at the ear of man Hitherto I have consider'd the Old Testament in no respect but as it contains the killing letter of the Law but you must not mistake that the Holy Spirit hath interlaced many fast-holdings of Faith and promises Evangelical almost every where in the Prophets and in the Psalms of David Nay the Old Testament is rather Promise than Law yet it was fit the rigour of the Law should be repeated that it might more appear how necessary the promise of Grace was that we could not live without it and that every man being convicted in his conscience by the sentence of the Law we might more ardently fly to Grace for the end of the Moral Law is double to set us a rule what we should endeavour to do and to discover our own impotency unto us what we are not able to do that we may seek a remedy in the satisfaction of Christ But this I say that the darkness and obscurity of the Old Testament was enlightned with many excellent promises that the believing Israelites might be partakers of Faith and of everlasting life they had the same Gospel which we have the same Christ the same Faith the same Spirit sealing the truth of promise unto them Where is then the priviledge you will say that the tidings are better to us then unto them or far surpassing on our side every way Israel that believed in the promised seed was an heir but under age
goodness were remarkable for the quantity that he had an exceeding portion of the Spirit in which regard he was more than a Prophet for the time that he received it it was from the womb yea and in some signs before the womb had opened to bring him forth in which regard he was more than the child of any Prophet these two the Angel hath put together He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mothers womb This was inundatio spiritus the Spirit abounding in him as a River at high-water fills the banks but in the most probable opinion it was not emundatio spiritus it did not cleanse his soul from corruption in every part but it instructed him with vertue more than ordinary to do great works For God forbid but that a man may be said to be sanctified and to be full of the Holy Ghost although the infectious poyson of original sin do still remain in him Which original contagion raigns in the wicked is much abated and kept under in the Just was lessen'd by Gods especial favour more than usually in John but the malignity thereof is not quite taken away till our mortal have put on immortality The reason is very slender that the sin wherein his mother conceived him was taken away before he was born because he seemed to have a passion of faith before ever he saw the light when he leapt at the presence of our Saviour for that might be a transient passion and no doubt it was no more and nothing lets but sin may abide also where the Spirit of grace doth inhabit and continue That which is alledged to prove him to have some defilement like all the Sons of Adam is far more forcible namely where the Scripture says how all are conceived and born in sin Where it lets us know in another place how God hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all And St. Austin upholds this cause Nemo dici potest renatus nisi priùs sit natus Christ says Unless a man be born again he cannot be the child of God Surely common sense will lead us to this notion a man must be first born before he can be born again and if carnal birth go before Regeneration then no man can be cleansed from all sin before the birth of the womb Besides out of the same reason that St. Austin brings against the Pelagians to prove that the leprosie of Adams sin is in little Infants by the same I will prove it to be in John because the wages of sin is death Christ only excepted who took our sins upon him and the beheading of John is a remonstrance that the meritorious cause of death was in him I mean iniquity To give full measure to this Point and running over Mat. xi 11. Verely says Christ among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he I leave the multipliciousness of Expositions upon that Text and betake me to St. Hieroms Aliud est coronam justitiae possidere aliud in acie pugnare The least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John because he was in his race and did struggle against sin and Satan the least in the kingdom of heaven hath his Crown upon his head and is past the fear of tentation So I have shewn that John had some frailties of flesh and bloud in him wherefore most submissively he flies to the true Altar of mercy for a pardon I have need to be baptized of thee Let the Saints of God have their due honour but let the mercies of Christ and the benefit of his bloud shed upon the Cross be dilated to every one that dies in the Lord which was the reason why I prosecuted the last Point And it is according to the humility of John to set forth his low estate when men would exalt him For the more the Embassadors of the Jews did magnifie him with Art thou the Christ Art thou Elias The more did he abase himself saying There is one among you whose shooes latchet I am not worthy to unloose Displiciat sibi unusquisque in se ut totus in Deo placeat Be displeased every man with himself and God will be pleased with thee This was of all comforts most intimate to the Prophets soul that he saw his own need and knew the right way to call for succour And the less hope he had of himself the more hope he had of God O how his hope quickned and exulted when he saw his Redeemer at Jordan whom he had never seen before He saw such comfort coming down with him as the Angel brought to Peter when he was in hold now the prison doors are opened get thee loose from thy sins But what speak I of Angels They had been sent indeed upon messages of joy there had been Patriarchs there had been Prophets in the world these were like fair diamonds whose light sparkles in the eye but gives no warmth to that which is cold But as the Psalmist says Except the Lord build the house the labourers labour but in vain Except the Son of God had vouchsafed in his own person to build the Church we had never reapt the fruit of eternal life John Baptist was an Israelite yet he trusts not to the Seed of Abraham Born under the Law but he knew it were death to rely upon that killing Letter He was a Prophet sanctified from the womb he cares not for that For what had he which he had not received and could he boast then as if he had not received it Finally He was full of fasting austerity preaching all manner of works yet he relies not upon them for when we have done all we can we are but unprofitable servants These are the strongest stays of humane trust that can be built upon yet he flies from them all and runs to the all-sufficient merits of Christ for succour This was a right aim taken Ac si oculo rubricam dirigat uno this was a straight line drawn bringing his hope just upon the Lord and giver of life I have need to be baptized of thee The time hath stopt me from proceeding to the last part which shall be made the beginning of our business upon the next occasion To God the Father c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 14 15. And comest thou to me And Jesus answering said unto him Suffer it to be so now For thus it becommeth us to fulfil all righteousness IF ever such an Argument could be laid before man wherein it might become his wit to dispute it with God I think verily it fell out in this Story which I continue in that Text that I have read unto you I will not except that instance which is able to amaze any Reader when the Lord spake unto Abraham to take his only Son Isaac and
to favour the weakness of Infants we cast no more than a dew of water upon their face yet when young men converted from heathen Idolatry required the Baptism of the Church their whole body waded into the River even as they that came to John stood up to the neck in Jordan yea and in hotter countries Infants were dipt into the bottom of the Font this the Fathers called a resemblance that the old Adam was buried in the waters St. Paul makes it a mystery that we are buried with Christ therefore I find that some were wont especially to baptize on the Satterday wherein Christ lay in the Grave and a threefold immersion of the Child into the water was an usual Ceremony because Christ lay buried three days in the Sepulchre After the representation of burial in the outward Element the good use of that Sacrament tells us we should die unto sin I say first buried and then die for the end of being buried with Christ is that we should die daily unto sin This order is no hard thing to conceive for suppose a man by mischance sunk into the bottom of the water before he loseth his life and dies it is true to say that he is buried in the stream which is gone over his head therefore upon this burial-resembling baptism it behoves you to die unto the world and to mortifie your members upon earth The death of sin is thus to be conceived not an utter privation of all evil but a beating down of concupiscence it is a death to your Adversary the Devil when he cannot reign in your mortal body Weeds which are cut down perhaps will grow no more but their savour still stinks upon your dunghil So you may sheare down the viciousness of your life like an unprofitable weed lay it dead and let it grow no more but it will ever leave a noisom smell in our nature While we live in this world flesh is but a dunghil of corruption it made St. Paul have a great desire to be dissolved that he might be a sweet savour in Christ As we are buried and die with Christ in Baptism so we must rise with him through the faith of the operation of God Col. ii 12. For when Christ is given to us to be our life to what end should we die as it were with him in the Laver of new birth unless it be to rise up in a new life This meditation cannot choose but stick by you if you will always carry the remembrance of those words before your eyes Abrenuntio Satanae I renounce the Devil and all his works They are a part of your Indenture that you made with God and how will you answer the violating of your Covenant St. Ambrose declames thus upon it Tenetur vox tua non in tumulo mortuorum sed in libro viventium Praesentibus Angelis locutus es non est fallere non est mentiri This word is recorded not among the dead but in the book of the living The Angels were present in the Church when the Sureties in your name gave their faith to God therefore hold you to your word you must not falter you must not lie unto the Lord. Walk in newness of life that Phrase hath somewhat in it that is not said barely in a new life In novis vivendi formis let there be no kind of likeness and conformity to thy self as once thou wert a neglecter of Prayer a Traducer a Fornicator a Drunkard an Oppressor Here is a Temple built up new unto the Holy Ghost which once was a den of uncleanness that which is to come of my life is altogether consecrated to the glory of my Saviour look not therefore before me now but get thee behind me Satan You have now heard all the five Reasons upon the second part of the Text why Christ was baptized I said in the third place it was but a preparatory to greater matters which should follow therefore he went up straightway out of the water The Text says straightway as who should say he staid not long upon that Circumstance no more will we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did ascend out of Jordan and very presently both these are the crums of the Text and they must not be lost Literally it imports that Christ stood not upon the shore having a few drops of water cast upon him but he went with his whole body into the River to intimate that if God should not help the deep waters of our sins would take us up to the neck and the stream had gone over our soul So Philip and the Eunuch went down into the waters Acts viii 38. That great Courtier of Queen Candace stript himself of all his cloaths before his servants that he might wash from head to foot What was it to him to be naked in the sight of divers men He was so ashamed of his sins that he forgot all other shamefac'dness Thus he press'd close to the example of our Saviour who went down into the stream of Jordan and it being not the time of harvest when that River used to fill his banks he went up and ascended from the Pool St. Austin allegorizeth Confestim ascendit ut ostendat quà m gravi onere in baptismo liberamur He went up nimbly to the banks to shew that by Baptism we are lightned of the great burden of our sins and fit to ascend unto our Father Others fasten this observation upon it that Christ went straightway out of the water For his Baptism was done with more speed and expedition than the common peoples the reason is this Among the multitude every one was baptized confessing their sins that took up some time to detain them before they parted Christ staid for no more than the sprinkling of the River who had no sins to confess and straightway went out of the water St. Luke affords a pious conjecture Luk. iii. 21. being baptized he prayed Therefore to teach us with what reverence these great mysteries are to be entertained he made hast incontinently to the shore to fall upon his knees and pray unto his Father Adoremus coram creatore says the Psalmist O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker If we are to worship him even as low as with the most humble prostration of our face upon the earth because he created us and gave us the life of nature then what knee can be so refractory as not to worship and fall down when we celebrate his infinite goodness in either of the Sacraments that he hath redeemed us from eternal death called us to the participation of grace and given us assurance in those blessed Seals of his Covenant that we shall enjoy the life of glory Remember what I said in the beginning beware of obstinacy Lastly He went up out of the waters to shew us every good deed is a step into another Do but enter into the practice of one good action and
spake upon all the Kingdoms of the World this could not be done in the twinkling of an eye But no man can read an Author but he will find many such hyperbolical speeches The Syrian Paraphrast translates St. Luke in brevissimo tempore Satan did it in a trice in a very short time beyond the imagination of man to think how it should be done so quickly that 's the meaning of the Holy Ghost It was his subtilty to hurry over things that Christ might have no time of deliberation but be surprized of a sudden before He could give a well meditated answer I know it may be descanted upon likewise that such things told upon relation could not move any mans appetite so well as to muster them before the eye Segnius irritant animos dimissa per aures c. therefore I say this was a mingle of tentation all that could be was shewed unto the eye and the rest was supplyed by narration Use which of these last opinions you will or if none do satisfie yet believe the Text to be true for that must be believ'd though the manner be unsearchable The Lord will come at the blast of a Trumpet and all flesh shall be gathered together in the twinkling of an eye and then all mysteries shall be opened to us among other things that are not yet discover'd how the Devil took our Saviour up into an exceeding high Mountain and shew'd him all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them in the twinkling of an eye THE FIFTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 9. And saith unto him All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me BErnard meditates upon our Saviours suffering on the Cross that there were tria pungentia three sharp pointed Instruments that ran into his flesh But the first more lightly The second much more sensibly And the last made a further entrance into his body than all the rest The thorns platted on his head raced the skin the Nails went through his hands and feet But the Speare made a ruder and a deeper wound through his side into his very heart So these three Tentations of the Devil succeed one another like those tria pungentia every one had a sharper point and a greater sting to do mischief than the other but it was not possible they should stick like thorns and nails in the Son of God The tentation to make stones of bread was an advice to make bad provision for the sustenance of this life there was Spina necessitatis Satan would have prickt Christ on with the thorns of want and necessity The tentation to cast himself down from the top of the Temple was to draw him to a violent and a presumptuous death as bad as that nail if he could have fastned it which Jael struck into the head of Sisera The third tentation is a mash of all the venom which the Devil had left Peccata peccatis producta here are sins hanging upon sins one at the end of another to make up the length of a Spear In a word here is a brood of sins in a nest four apparently without all subdivisions First Peccatum habendi he offers him the sin of Covetousness to give him all the Possessions of the world Secondly Peccatum regnandi he would rub Ambition upon him and put into his hands all the Kingdoms and Power of the world Thirdly Peccatum malè credendi he would seduce him to believe that all these things which God alone brings forth from his treasure were his to dispose Fourthly Peccatum turpiter adorandi he durst ask that which is so horrid that it is able to curdle a mans bloud to repeat it that Christ would fall down and worship him Aquinas builds the gradation of these three Tentations on this sort First The evil Spirit demanded no more of Christ Quà m quod appetunt quantumcunque veri spirituales which the holiest men in the world and most endowed with the Spirit must use but to refresh and feed his body Secondly He required that which holy men ought not to do yet it is incident through frailty now and then for holy men to do it to jump down from a Pinacle out of ostentation and to be gazed upon for vain glory But he climbs up in the third tentation to such a motion as never any spiritual and holy man can commit to be bribed with wealth and honour to forsake the Lord and to adore his foulest enemy Therefore in both the former temptations he began with this preface If thou be the Son of God but he leaves out those words when he makes this Proposition in my Text for the Son of God would never commit such black Idolatry though he could give more than all yet he laies all at the stake for this venture All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me Though Satans Kingdom be not divided yet his Tentations may But first I will read you my Text as St. Luke hath enlarged it that we may miss nothing which the Spirit of God hath uttered upon these words Thus that Evangelist Chap. iv 6. All this power will I give thee and the glory of them for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give it if thou therefore wilt worship me all shall be thine Now I suppose we may charge these particulars upon the Text made up out of both the Evangelists First Wherein the enticement of this tentation consists why in giving in most liberal remuneration pretended Dabo I will give Secondly What and how much he will give and that is twofold As a Mammonist of Wealth he will he says put into his hands all the Riches and Possessions that the eye can see All these things will I give thee And as a Lucifer of pride he tells him that he will give him title to all the honours of the world all this power will I give thee and the glory of them Thirdly he shews Christ his evidences Quo jure by what right and authority he can make over all this unto him In these words For that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will give it Fourthly and lastly Every Bait hath his Hook under it So this promise is laid upon a most impious condition if Christ will fall down and worship him Set your minds now upon these things and I will deliver them in their order Every tentation had some clawing provocation in it peculiar to it self now the sharpness and dangerousness of this tentation is in giving that is the first Point Dabo tibi I will give thee that is a speeding word we must confess it to the shame of the world Every one is a friend to him that bringeth gifts says Solomon All Satyrical Invectives Fables or Morals Writings of every cut and fashion are full of this that these things which Satan requires are commonly to be bought Worship Homage and what you
follow which I propound by way of question and thus first An bonum sit Christum non crucifigi If it could be good for them that Christ should entrench himself in Mount Thabor and never go to Jerusalem to be crucified Lord grant us not our own wishes when we desire evil unto our selves for this Apostle unwittingly desired as much mischief to fall upon his own head as the Devil could wish Peter was well strucken in years his person of grave authority his affections full of well-meaning love to Christ therefore this was but one of three times that he made bold to resist his Masters passion and disswade it Mat. xvi 22. Be propitious unto thy self Lord thou shalt not be killed by the Scribes and High Priests At another time he cut off Malchus ear in the Garden to save his Saviour And though he durst not openly dehort him now for he was check'd before and called Satan for that fault yet the same meaning is closely conveyed in these words Master it is good for us to be here What should I say It was not his opinion alone but it seems all his brethren were of the same mind they knew not the Scriptures and thought the Church might do well enough though Christ did never die upon the Cross for when Peter alone did speak in this cause St. Mark says Christ turned about and looked upon all his Disciples Mar. viii 33. And then rebuked Peter Get thee behind me Satan Peter gives him the title of Master if he would stay there and not die but St. Paul shews that even by death he won himself the Mastership Col. 2.18 He is the first-born from the dead that in all things he might have the pre-eminence His deceived Servants thought that it was inglorious for him to die whereas it was an honour to the Lamb of God to be brought unto that Altar So it behaved Christ to suffer and to enter into his glory I have met with one who delivered his opinion very eloquently how fit it was for our Saviour to remove from this place where his Disciple would have fixed him Says He this is not the Mount where our Lord must end his days but the fatal Calvary His face shall not shine with light but be disgraced with Spittle and smeared with bloud His Garments shall not be white to honour him but in scorn and derision He shall not stand between Moses and Elias but hang between two Thieves Thou Peter shalt not think it good to be with him but run away and deny him The Father shall not call unto him from heaven Thou art my well-beloved Son but the Son shall cry out that he is forsaken of the Father There shall not be a bright cloud over the place but darkness over the face of the earth Finally no other Tabernacle shall be built for him but a Cross of malediction 2. And might not Peter counsel him without offence against this ignominious death No my Beloved For it is not to be excused how he knew not the Scriptures that this was the course appointed for the redemption of the world the hungry could not eat their bread until it was broken We could not quench our thirst with the water of life till it was poured out of his wounds We could not be healed of the sting of death till the brazen Serpent was lifted up Jonas must be cast out of the belly of the Whale before he preach to the Ninivites Christ must die and rise again before the Disciples be sent to preach to all Nations The lxx Psalm hath this title A remembrance to the chief Musician and the first words of the Psalm are these Haste thee O Lord to deliver me make haste to help me O Lord. As who should say Thou that art the chief Musician unto whom all the Angels of heaven sing their Alelujah haste thee to redeem us by thy precious bloud Go up to thy Cross and suffer for it is time that thou have mercy upon us yea the time is come But you will say Had it not been most barbarous in Peter according to the tenure of that Psalm in the Exposition which I have given to wish the death of Christ First it might become his own Apostle that did tenderly love him neither to urge him nor disswade him but to say The will of the Lord be done Next I must tell you it is no such horrid thing as a weak Christian may imagine to have pray'd unto the Father that his Son might die upon the Cross for our Redemption Even so Father because thou wilt have it Yet this distinction must mollifie it Intuitu nostrae redemptionis non ipsius cruciatus says Lombard Rejoycing for the benefit of our Salvation but sorrowing for the bitterness of his Passion grieving for his sorrows but giving thanks with gladness for our own deliverance Therefore in no wise did Peter give right counsel when to decline the issue of that dismal Passion he said Master it is good c. But Ne quicquam sapit qui sibi non sapit How should he be a good Counsellor for his Master that was not wise for himself For I ask in the next place An bonum non videre mortem If it could be good for Peter and the two Disciples not to see death No surely there is a gain and advantage to be made by death Phil. i. 21. Then when we languish as we think of our last sickness then we begin to call our sins to remembrance then we look over the Covenant of the Law which we have so often broken then we breath out our soul in Prayer and fill our eyes and our heart with repentance the sense of imminent death takes away the sting of death by contrition and a most consciencious examination of the days that are past one hour well imployed about that time is better than a year in diebus illis when we were remiss and careless Even Balaam the Sorcerer did perceive what Soveraign Physick of Salvation God did administer to his Saints upon their sick bed and therefore he cries out O let me die the death of the righteous A righteous mans death is like the Cherubin standing before the Garden of Eden that with one blow lets him into Paradise and would Peter stay in the Mountain and want the best Schoolmaster of Repentance and Mortification Besides it is a good thing to be weary of every thing even of life it self till we come to heaven I know a man may desire to die out of frowardness I praise not that As Elias and Jonas were fretful because they were cross'd and in that vexation of mind they desired to die This is rudeness and impatiency to desire to die because they would not live as God would have them But there is earning to get above the desires of frail nature and to desire to put off the body that we may put on Christ So Nazianzen begins an Epistle to Nyssen out of
Marium says the Consul Marius and so daunted his Executioner Thus then our Saviour had escaped their hands divinitatem publicando 2. Where were the Legions of Angels that did attend him That Host of Princes who solemnized his Nativity with peace on earth and good will towards men would have recanted and sung a song quite of another nature to guard him from his passion And thus our Saviour had escaped exercitum producendo Durandus tries his skill for a third reason thus corpus in se mortale ad immortalitatem perducendo If you ask what he means by it I will enlarge his mind Our bodies do decay and decline every day more and more unto corruption necessarily because it is past the cunning of any mortal man to know precisely to a crum of bread what nourishment is best to fulfil the place of that which decays daily in our body but as for Christ scivit in alimento quantum necesse fuit sumere ad restaurationem deperditi He having the treasures of all wisdom hidden in him needed not the advise of any man to instruct him how the decays of nature being justly repaired could preserve his mortal body in a sound constitution for everlasting Scotus thinks this reason too weak and so do I also For although Christ had this inspection to discern wholsom from unwholsom in all the works of nature yet consumption and dissolution would happen to his body from two things The first prejudice to his health would be impuritas alimenti the earth and all the fruits thereof yield not such strength and vertue as they did before the Floud of Noah Si Adam habuisset alimentum nostrum mortuus fuisset senio says the same Schoolman very boldly if Adam in his best estate had been fed with such meats as we are and none besides age had brought him to his Grave Again there is potentiae nutritivae debilitatio that gentle heat which gives warmth to the faculty of concoction would have gone out like a candle in the socket and therefore it stands for a conclusion in his Divinity that a medicinal intelligence of herbs and fruits and other viands had not drawn out our Saviours life unto immortality There is a fourth reason how Christ could have restrained all agony and passion from his body for ever and it is without exception Death in a reasonable creature is the wages of sin they are relatives secundum esse so that a man may say here is a sinner and therefore a dead man here is the Tomb of a dead man and therefore the Grave of a sinner The next conclusion cannot be parted from the former for if Sin and Death be acus filum if one do draw the other after it then there must be some miraculous disposition in that mans body who is no sinner but innocent as an Angel of light and yet obnoxious to death as a vile transgressor Where then lies the miracle in the substance of our Saviour why thus the whole Manhood was united to the whole Godhead in the Union hypostatical but the influence the grace and priviledg of the Divine nature was not diffused over the flesh nay it cast not the celestial beams upon all the parts of his Soul till after the resurrection but it shined only upon the superior faculties of the will and understanding The strength then of our Samson did lye in capite in the Divine nature which he would not use to immortalize his Body before the Resurrection Potuit relaxare influentiam divinae naturae ut in inferiorem portionem redundarâ—t sayes Biel. It was a miracle then that He could confine the influence of his Godhead for a time to the superior faculties of the Soul and I think you will confess that there was no miracle done by necessity or compulsion but upon this presumption that the flesh was left unassisted of the Divinity there follows a threefold necessity of his death and dissolution The first is called necessitas naturae nature would have dropt away when it grew mellow ripe according to the course of humane constitution The second is called necessitas coactionis supposing the malice of the Jews and his obedience to unjust Authority he must have suffered by necessity of compulsion The third is called necessitas finis a necessity of death lay upon him from Gods eternal Decree to accompass the happy end preordeined which is mans Redemption But what is the fruit of this Doctrine now where are the sheaves to fill our bosom you will say now I doubt it not that Christ had power to lay down his life and to take it up Then enlarge your hearts to receive St. Austins Meditation Amplius tenemur Christo quod liberè voluit pati quà m quòd necessario Our engagement had been less if Christ had suffered by absolute and imperious necessity but we praise our God the more we bless him we magnifie him we give thanks unto him with the greater affection because our Sacrifice is of choice and liberty But I pass from the consideration of the mighty power which was in our Saviour Had he rejoyced like a Giant to run his course what death could have seized upon him had our Samson awoke out of sleep and shook himself no fetters could have held him But if you will lay your ear to the sweetest harmony that ever was tuned ad aquae lene caput sacrae if you will give attention to the soft and still bubling from whence sprung all our salvation voluit in a word he would not plead his innocency before Pilat he would be offer'd up he would be crucified It is a memorable accident which Plutarch doth report of a Sacrifice in Lacedaemon The Priests were in great distress for an unspotted Beast to be slain Satan no doubt desiring to supply them with fuel to kindle their Idolatry an unspotted Heifer swam over the River and laid it self down before the Altar I know not the truth of this Story but sure I am that I know a Sacrifice which will fit the Parable For when wrath had faln upon Mankind throughout all Generations and a burnt-Offering was wanting to appease the Lord to the end that Isaac and the Sons of Promise and Election might escape the blow of death the chief Ram of the Flock vir gregis even Jesus Christ thrust his horns into the Thicket and entangled his strength in the guilt of our sins so Isaac was saved and the Ram was sacrificed Voluit would he suffer was there no remedy but to cut off the Head to save the Body had not Christ humbled himself so far as to the death of the Cross yet had not our Redemption been finished by the ignominy of his poor Nativity the lowliness of submission to his Parents the pang of his Fastings the horror of his Agony in the Garden might not all other reproaches have ransomed his life This curious Question the Schoolmen ask therefore let them resolve it First says Biel
Altar you see the strength and mightiness of his power in the Goats that he bore the similitude of sinful flesh in the Ram his Principality that he governed the Flock in the Lamb his meekness and innocency but before the Law this in my Text is the first by name which the Fathers took notice of as a type of the Sacrifice upon the Cross Quis in ariete figuratus nisi Christus spinis Judaicis coronatus of this Type St. Austin is bold to say this Ram in the Thicket was but a rellish and pregustation of him that was compelled to weare a Crown of thorns It is the first praise that Pliny gives to this harmless Creature Magna huic pecori gratia in placamentis Deorum among other attonements it was very gracious to please and pacifie the divine powers how could Idolaters confess so much unless with Caiaphas they prophesied and knew not what they said Indeed we can say omnis huic pecori gratia in placamentis Domini All our attonement all our reconciliation all our pardon it rests upon the head of this Oblation the principal of the Flock Who can think upon the innocence of the Sheep and not remember this spotless Sacrifice without sin Who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth 1 Pet. ii 22. Non Petrus erat qui haec dixit adulatus Magistro sed Esaias praedixit says Cyril Peter did not say this of himself to flatter his Master he had it from an Evangelical Prophet Isaiah foretold it under the name of an innocent sheep led unto the slaughter The Pharisees called him Carpenter in disgrace but they could not call him Sinner Clamant habet damonium non Clamant habet peccatum they cry out he had a Devil and yet their tongue would not let them say there was a fault in him Our Saviour proclaimes it Quis vestrum Which amongst you doth accuse me of sin Again who can think upon the meekness of the sheep and not remember this Sacrifice that was led dumb before the Shearer Moses was meek yet he commanded that the Adulteress should be put to death Christ was meeker his sentence was clemency every jot Joh. viii Go and sin no more Moses was meek yet he brought Mandatum lapideum a stony Law to the People Christ was meeker and turned those stones into bread at his last Supper he set before them Mandatum triticeum Take and eat in remembrance of me At his Baptism a Dove sat upon his head Columba super agnum a Dove upon a Lamb meekness upon meekness What heart could be more intenerated and mollified than that which prayed for his Persecutors Yet once more let me speak who can think upon the profitableness of the Sheep and not remember this Sacrifice that did yield commodity both in life and death He liv'd in innocency of life for our imitation he suffered in the bitterness of death for our redemption ut afferret remedium in passione mortis ut praeberet exemplum in innoecntiâ vitae says Leo Innoceny Meekness Utility all do correspond that the Angel should take one of the Flock rather than any other Beast to prefigure the Sufferings of Christ And we must not omit that among all the Flock the Ram was cull'd out to be substituted for Isaac propter masculam virtutem never was there more need of a masculine courage and a spirit heroick than to tolerate and endure so much as our Saviour did this day stripes and strokes blasphemies and buffetings thorns and nails to drink up all the bitterness of the Cup to fight with God himself and his wrath in that Agony in the Garden every vein of the body vented bloud quia de toto corpore id est de Ecclesiâ emanaturae sunt passiones martyrum says Prosper because the Martyrs should suffer in every part of his Body which is the Church Such a Samson we had need of that could break the green wit hs and snap the cords in sunder Such a Lion we had need of sprung from the Tribe of Judah and it falls out I know not whether by art or by arbitrary imposition that the Latin word Aries for a Ram comes from the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a Lion come to his growth and vigour I am sure he that is the Ram in my Text is likewise the strong Lion of the Tribe of Judah Very appertinent is that which I find related in Ortelius concerning the Christian King of the Abyssens that he gives for his Crest a Lion holding a Cross in his paw notifying that Christ stuck to his Passion and his Cross with that power and fortitude like a Lion that no tentation nor Devil nor infirmity could pluck him from it An Angel came to strengthen him says St. Luke I pray you did the Ram give back then was the Lion frighted did weakness creep upon him not so but because in the very gall of affliction he had strength and courage therefore he did merit to be strengthened by the ministery of Angels For example in this Militant state of the Church they that couragiously endure their trial at length shall not want Divine consolation This Exposition likes me best which ascribes all masculine courage to the Ram which was caught in the Thicket Ecce aries behold a Ram why John Baptist makes him younger above a thousand years after Ecce Agnus Dei behold the Lamb of God Nay in one mystical verse Gen. xlix 9. Judah is called a Lions Whelp and a strong Lion and an old Lion great diversity of age in so few words I must say of these places as St. Austin did reconciling the Prophesies of Esay and Jeremiah To us a Child is born says Esay Mulier circumdabit virum says Jeremiah A woman shall compass a man and both speak of Christ Why time says the Father doth not make him older than he was before the beginning of the world sed insinuant ei nunquam defuisse virtutem but if the Child be call'd a man it is to insinuate that full strength and perfection was alwayes in him Now you have seen the thing which was bestowed upon Abraham The Wife of Manoah could say if the Lord were pleased to kill them he would not accept a Burnt-offering at their hands neither would he have told them of a Son to be born much more may I say if the Lord were not pleased with Abraham and his Seed he would not have given us a Burnt-offering nor told us of him that was to come in the ends of the World as it is in the first mark which is upon this Ram He is Aries post eum Abraham saw a Ram behind him For long it was indeed long after Abrahams days that the manifestation of this Shadow was revealed in the death of Christ My father says Isaac in the 7. verse of this Chapter behold the Fire and the Wood but where is the Lamb Isaac spake of no more than the present
foreknowledg of God Now that the righteous God in whom such counsel and such foreknowledg do reside should deliver up his most innocent Son and our dear Saviour unto death that 's a mystery to be weighed with modesty the Text says positively God did deliver him yet we know there is no injustice in the Most High therefore this scruple is worth the scanning First of all it is an harsh and offensive speech that some use who perhaps mean well that God did appoint and preordain Judas to betray his Lord and the Jews to crucifie him and the reasons which they use to excuse the Phrase as if God thereby were not made the Author of sin seem to me to want sufficiency Zuinglius says justo non est lex posita you can set God no Law therefore whatsoever you attribute unto him is no sin because sin is the violation of a Law Beloved there are some things which cannot consist with Gods glory and that 's an eternal Law as we may call it observed by God to do nothing against his glory He cannot ly He cannot deny himself thus the scripture speaketh And Abraham talking face to face with God says he God forbid that the Judg of all the world should do unjustly Would thou punish the righteous with the wicked as who should say that were to thwart the eternal Law which must not be infringed This lays the opinion of Zwinglius flat There is another pretence from very venerable Authors that God purposeth and ordaineth the same act which man executeth but man hath an evil end in it so it becomes iniquity to him whereas God intends a pious end and therefore concurs not to mans iniquity and they give a fair instance of their meaning out of my Text. Christ was delivered of his Father to save the World that was the merciful and gracious work which was God's destination but he was delivered of the Devil to make the Jews guilty of his death of Judas for lucre sake of the Priests and Pharisees for envy of Pilate for fear the scope of Pilate of the Jews of Judas was extremely distorted so they became guilty of a mighty sin in the same work wherein God was righteous This will not down with me I confess for safe Divinity for first it favours that opinion of some Libertines too much that it is no crime but praise-worthy to do evil that good may come of it Secondly it cannot be shifted according to this opinion me-thinks but that God ordains man to fall into that act wherein he cannot choose but have a bad intention and most diverse from the good purpose of God And it is but a lame leg to hold up an halting cause to interpose that God can work good out of evil and bring light out of darkness therefore though He preordains evil He will wind it up well to his own glory for surely they do not think of God as they ought that He is all pure and holy that think sin must be referred to God either as an efficient cause of it or predestinately as a deficient cause to declare his honor Why God stands not in need of our good works to set forth his praise O my God my goods are nothing unto thee says the Psalmist much less doth he want our sins and our transgressions to make him glorious Thus I have premised that they have not my consent that say that God ordained or decreed that Judas should betray our Lord and that the Jews should blaspheme him and despitefully entreat him thus rather I would propound it to you in a far safer way as I conceive God did not decree those criminous actions of Judas Herod Pilate c. but He did decree the Passion of Christ and did settle it in his sixt and eternal counsel that he should shed his bloud as a Propitiation for the World actio displicuit passio grata suit I am led along with the judgment of Leo the Great in this point Thus he Did the iniquity of them that persecuted Christ arise out of Gods Counsel and Decree and that heinous treason worse than all villainy Did the hand of Divine preparation arm them to it this must not once be imagined of that supreme justice that governs all things Multum diversum multumque contrarium est id quod in Judaeorum malignitate est praecognitum quod in Christi passione est dispositum that is there is great dissimilitude between these two how God foresaw the malignancy of the Jews but it was his own disposing and ordination that Christ should suffer therefore it comes to this sense He was delivered to death simply without addition of a death procured by sin through the determinate counsel of his Father but the conspiracy and envy and bloudy outcries that concurr'd in his death the foreknowledg of God did apprehend it would be carried with that violence and decreed to suffer it Non inde processit voluntas interficiendi unde moriendi says the same Father God did not will after the same manner to have his Son die and to have him barbarously crucified To allot him unto death was very just because that Lamb of God did take upon him the iniquity of us all and Leo adds that God could have commanded some holy Prophet to have sacrificed Christ before him even as He commanded Abraham to offer up his only Son Isaac and the Lord of life and death might have permitted Abraham to strike the stroke without impiety but to allot him to such a death wherein factious Enemies delighted themselves in his pains that cannot consist with such a God as hates the least impurity But my Text you will say declines it not but that both his death and his deliverance into the hands of the Jews that is the manner of his death both of them were ordained of God and so they were but with this correction of the proposition omnia vel ordinata sunt à Deo ut fiunt vel ordinatum non impedire quò minus fiant all that is good is ordained of God that it shall be and all beside that is evil is ordained of God that it shall be suffered to be and in those things which are to be referred to permission I mean all the works of the Devil I do not exclude the determinate counsel of God nay it must necessarily be present at it Quicquid permittit Deus consultò volens permittit there is Justice and Wisdom and Counsel from above imployed about those things wherein God is highly displeased For first no sinner in the world can say he was so permitted to enter into sin that no impediments were cast in his way to avert him some illumination he had some instruction to draw him back some remorse of conscience though not in such measure as did infallibly prevail upon his crooked will Even Judas himself was deterred from his Satanical proceedings by the prediction of his Masters mouth one of you shall
Chrysostomes judgment upon it is that when Christ came out of the Grave death it self was delivered from pain and anxiety 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 death knew it held him captive whom it ought not to have seized upon and therefore it suffered torments like a woman in travel till it had given him up again Thus he But the Scripture elsewhere testifies that death was put to sorrow because it had lost its sting rather than released from sorrow by our Saviours Resurrection Secondly Cajetan understands by the loosening of the pains of death the undoing or taking off those penalties which he suffered in triduo mortis in those three days while he lay asleep in the Sepulchre But what penalties are those in his construction Why one thing irksom unto him was that the body and soul should be divided in sunder the other that the very place of hell to which his soul descended is in it self ordained for torment Et mora in inferno erat paena infamiae as another said any stay or delay in hell was a derogation to his honour and for the body resting in the Grave though then it have no sense of smart yet for that while it is sub mortis victoriâ imperio under the charge and Empire of death There is somewhat near to truth in this Exposition as I will manifest by and by and somewhat clean mistaken For all the sorrow and punishment of Christ was finished in his death that was the consummation of all his penal sufferings Wherefore his body was not kept in the Grave much less his soul made progress to Hell to bear any penalty revenge or sorrow for our sakes or to satisfie for our sins but to fulfill all righteousness to confirm our faith that he was truly dead and to captivate the Devil Therefore his Resurrection did not cut off or mitigate any sorrows which he sustained in death I cannot consent to Cajetan if he mean the contrary But if he take not sorrows in a proper signification but Metaphorically for the bands of death as the Syrian Paraphrast reads it Solvens funes mortis loosening the cords or twists of death so I think it to be the very marrow and true sense of the Text that God raised up his Son not Christ but God the sense continuing in the same person having loosened or unbound him from that death wherein he was detained three days But if it agree to the Person of Christ that he loosed the pains of death though it be a little violence to Grammer me thinks then thirdly it comes to this interpretation that Christ had paid you know that is solvere too he had undergone he had satisfied the pains of death or a most painful death So Beza says it may be taken here Dolores mortis pro morte dolorum The pains of death for a death full of pains even all that spight and malice could wreck upon him Andradius likewise in his defence of the Tridentine Faith agrees with Beza that Christ after he had given up the Ghost and paid the debt of Nature upon the Cross was acquitted or exempted from the sorrows of death that is from a death full of sorrows sorrows that were not only deeply impressed into the body as far as whips and thorns and nails could reach but exceeding anguish and pain of mind sighs and horrors that we can not conceive Thus far only we may peep into it that God was represented to him most â—ngry at our sins that He felt the malediction of his wrath lying upon him for our sakes especially that He was troubled to shed his bloud for so many ungrateful wretches that had no regard of it these were the sorrows of death that compassed him about but that He should put on the horror of our guiltiness so far and suppose himself to stand in our person at his Fathers Tribunal even to the forgetting of himself to the confusion of his reason to the pangs of desperation as if He felt hell about him whatsoever a grave and worthy Author says to this point upon my Text and in other places I draw my consent from it Exceeding sorrows both of body and mind gat hold of him but they were loosened and finished upon the Cross But will some man say why doth St. Luke speak of these in order after his Resurrection I answer that Christ satisfied the wrath of God to the full upon the Cross and paid that debt for which He was our surety to the utmost farthing Thereby He loosed the deadly sorrows yet it did not appear so well that He had loosed those sorrows till the time He rose from the dead therefore the victory over those sorrows being estated as it were in his rising again St. Luke ascribes it to his resurrection I have not spared you see to open this third and most common opinion unto you yet I rather satisfie my self in this Interpretation that as it was Gods work to raise up Christ so it was his act to loose the pains of death solvere i. e. irritum reddere all that the pains and sharpness of death could do was to divorce his Soul from his Body and God did frustrate and dissolve all that by uniting them again in the Resurrection And according to this true reading of the words which I have hitherto beaten upon the Expositions are easie and full of consolation full of consolation I say for neither could the Scripture say that the sorrows of death were all paid neither had it been possible for Christ to have got out of the Grave if there had been any one sin though the least in the world unsatisfied The other reading is strange to the Original yet admitted by all them that are bound even to the errors of the vulgar Latin Translation and often quoted and cited for great authority in some Controversies solvens dolores inferni having loosed the pains of Hell 'T is true that Irenaeus and some others of good credit of old do use the same and our Criticks tell us of one antient Greek Copy that concurrs with them and a learned Bishop of our own Church reconciles the seeming difference on this wise that by death in that place is meant not the first but the second Death the second Death you know is eternal punishment in Hell fire and in his opinion it comes all to one pass to say having loosed the sorrows of death and having loosed the sorrows of hell This will be examined by and by but first I will premise how some have blundered themselves in this reading St. Austin in that famous Epistle of his to Evodius propounds it though very faintly that it is not improbable that the Soul of Christ went into Hell in triduo mortis and carried away with him some that were there tormented and if none other were released yet at least Adam was If the Father can be expounded to mean that Christ blotted out the hand-writing against us harrowed Hell and
took away all power from it against penitent sinners and so preserved Adam and other just men from that place of torment his Judgment is right but if his Sentence be flat for the other meaning that any of the damned were redeemed of those pains that so he loosed the sorrows of Hell then we forbear to give him credit But you shall hear him in the right anon Secondly there are more than many that think they have found their so much contended for fire of Purgatory in my Text for neither the Schoolmen nor almost any other of the Church of Rome do take the word Hell in the Creed properly and litterally as they ought for the Hell of the Damned it is their Doctrine that Christ went virtually thither but not locally no in their common Tenent he descended but to the Limbus of the Fathers or to the place of temporal sorrows where some were deteined for a while for the satisfaction of some venial sins Therefore Bellarmine having laid his conclusion at first that Christ descended to the nethermost Hell afterward went from it and held with their common way that in his substantial presence he went at the most no further than Purgatory This Pill being commonly swallowed among men it purgeth this fancy out of divers of their Authors that Christ redeemed not the damned out of Hell but He released many by a Plenary Indulgence out of Purgatory This is nothing else but to make the Scriptures chime according to that idle conceit that runs in their brains And thirdly Aquinas shuts this opinion out of doors to take in another to wit that to loose the pains of Hell was to loose the pains of the Patriarchs and Fathers who were sequestred in a Receptacle of ease but not admitted into any joys of Heaven till Christ had first ascended but what pains had these that were to be mitigated if they lived in quiet refreshment and in no pain at all he answers that they were full of sadness and affliction of mind because their deliverance was so long stopt and Christ staid so long before He came in the flesh to release them But I rejoyn if they were in such a state as they describe dato non concesso they might be full of desire and expectation but without any molestation or anxiety All these opinions which I have rankt formost as they miss the meaning of the Text so neither are they right according to analogie of faith But the last Paraphrase of the words though it rove from the meaning of the Text yet it is sound according to analogie of faith 't is thus that Christ loosed the sorrows of Hell not as if ever He had felt the sorrows of Hell in himself and shook them off but He subdued Satan for our sakes and delivered us from those pains with which we should have been held and captivated And herein St. Austin speaks to this point most intelligently that it is easie to understand how these sorrows were loosed to set us free quemadmodum solvi possunt laquei venantium ne teneant non quia tenuerunt as the snares of Hunters may be untied not to redeem that which is caught but that they may never catch any thing No man will ever deny but that we may be as well delivered from that torment which is deserved as from that which is inflicted and to prevent the Devil that he should not tyrannise over us is to loose and break in sunder the fetters that he had prepared for us and enough to make us confess with David Thou hast brought my soul out of hell thou hast kept my life from them that go down into the pit The three headed Monster that fights against us is the strength of Sin and Death and Hell put together Sin must not reign Death must no more sever Soul and Body Hell must have no power to receive and torment us all these must be vanquished or else Satans Kingdom is not quite destroyed and Christ subdued them all but the greatest and most perfect Conquest that He made whereof we most triumph in this life is that He overcame Hell or loosened the sorrows of Hell For Sin doth remain in us here though the force be broken Death also prevails against our body though it shall be but for a time but here is the fulness of our Redemption and of Christs Victory that Hell is absolutely conquered and shall never lay hold of them that believe And I must go one step further with them that follow this interpretation wherein my judgment favours them for true Doctrine that Christ did locally go down into Hell when He loosed the sorrows of Hell for his Elects sake Christus inferos adiit ne nos adiremus says Tertullian Christ went into Hell that we might never come thither and Fulgentius is a great light to this Article of the Creed It was fit that the Son of God being without sin should descend as far as man had faln by sin and so He freed all the faithful of the world from the beginning to the end that they should never come thither I will fill the Scale with no more authorities than St. Austin's this is his Sentence it was convenient that Christ should descend into Hell to procure us freedom from Hell as it behoved him to die and to rise again the third day that we might not die for ever but rise from death Some that affect not this way of Christs local descending into Hell rejoyn thus that no man denies but Christ delivered us from the power of darkness and that He spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly but it is not certain by what means this was done by his Divinity or by his Humanity or both by the vertue of his Sufferings Death Burial Resurrection or by the real Descending of his Soul in that place nay one Lutheran Confession is not averse to think that He went thither both in Body and Soul in the very moment of his Resurrection I believe by the penetration of the gross body of the Earth they would bring in some succour to help forward their Consubstantiation The most equal way to try this is the express Letter of the Scripture the clearest exposition of the Apostles Creed and the greatest consonancy of reason The Testimonies of Scripture most firmly to be insisted on is Ephes iv 9. That he ascended what is it but that he first descended into the lowest parts of the earth I know this may well be expounded that Christ was humbled to be a man upon earth in the form of a Servant But if the learned and pious Fathers that were of old may be the Judges of the interpretation And who fitter the lowest parts of the earth are the nethermost Hell Beza hath cited a parallel place out of the Psalms to make these words of the Apostle agree unto the Incarnation of our Lord Psal cxxxix 15. My substance was hidden
wouldst make an Advocate It is in his own power to raise up thy Brother after four days Two days our Saviour abode beyond Jordan after Lazarus was dead and after he set forward to Bethany he made two days Journey of it before he came to the place all this while the Prisoner was fast lockt up under the Gates of Death Belike Lazarus could not be released till Christ came unto the Cave where he was laid No such necessity Beloved Vbicunque Christus steterat patebant inferi Hell must open her mouth in any place where Christ did set his foot nay in any place where he should but say unto the Grave I will be thou opened Therefore another Reason must be given why Lazarus staid until the fourth day for his Enlargement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom Jonas and Lazarus both were Servants they must not jump with Christ in the same Privileges in every thing then the Servant should be equal with his Master Jonas came out of the Whales Belly the third day so did Christ out of the Tomb but Jonas was alive and Christ was dead there was the Difference between the Servant and the Master Christ rose from the dead and so did Lazarus but Christ the third day and Lazarus the fourth there 's the Difference between the Master and the Servant The Resurrection of the dead is an Article of the Creed ingendred in the heart by a very strong Faith 't is mirabilium mirificentia as one says The astonishment of all admiration and when it shall be reported by the Women that an Angel told them it the best of them all will doubt Thomas and many more will flatly deny it What deny that Christ could quicken himself the third day when he raised up Lazarus the fourth Lazarus was unto Christ as Aaron's Rod was unto Aaron The Sedition of Dathan and Abiram opposed Aaron and would not acknowledge him to be the High Priest That shall be tried says the Lord and Aaron's Rod which was a dry stick budded buds and bloomed blossoms as if it had been living more than all the other Rods of the Tribes of Israel So Lazarus was laid up in the Cave like the Rod of Aaron in the Tabernacle and when his life was restored the fourth day it proved that Christ could build up the Temple again in three days which they had pluckt down before What shall we say then That the Resurrection was more wonderful in Lazarus by one day than in Christ himself Nothing less For Christ was raised up by his own power and Lazarus by the power of Christ Christs death was violent his very heart as some think was digg'd through with the Souldiers Spear Lazarus his death was natural and no principal part of his body was wounded or impaired Si aliud videtur vobis mortuus aliud videtur occisus if it be one thing to die in the peace of nature and another thing to be made away by violence Ecce Dominus utrumque fecit here are examples of both that returned to life Christ the third day from the death of violence Lazarus the fourth day from the death of nature both are from the Lord. As a Servant said of an unlucky day wherein all things went cross huic diei oculos eruere vellem he vished the Sun had never shined upon it So this fourth day hath not a little troubled Satan Upon the fourth day Gen. i. 14. God set lights in the Firmament to what end to divide the day from the night and the light from the darkness Periisti Satana this is a fatal day with the Devil who would have mingled night with day and darkness with light but now his works are discovered The fourth year hath been as climacterical unto him and as much out of his way in the 13. of St. Luke and the 7. verse These three years says the Lord of the Vineyard I have lookt for fruit and find none now I will cut down the Vine nay says the Dresser of the Vineyard stay but this year also and the fourth there are hopes it will bring forth grapes and please the Lord. To say thus much for our Evangelist St. John the fourth Evangelist gave the shrewdest blow to the stratagems of Satan and hath so prov'd the Divinity of Christ almost in every verse that Ebion and Cerinthus were confounded and Heresie is proved a lyar to her face for ever Even so was this number critical unto death in the Resurrection of Lazarus three days he was given for lost and upon the fourth day Christ cried with a loud voice Lazarus come forth There is a moral sense besides that whereof I have spoken and that is like fine flower boulted out of the Letter and it yields like the bread which our Saviour broke to the multitude and will satisfie thousands Death was the reward of sin In that Lazarus was dead and buried I read the Parable of a sinner upon his Sepulcher In that he was four days dead he must be magnus peccator says St. Austin no small offender can be meant by that but a grievous sinner Where have you laid him says Christ O what a dreadful question is that Lord know me for one of thy children but know me for a sinner rather than not know me at all Let it not be said unto me Depart from me I know you not Projectus sum à facie oculorum tuorum says David in the person of a castaway I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes Perditum nescit ubi sit it is Gods language he pretends he sees not them he knows not them that were lost Adam where art thou says God O Adam that question had confounded thee if Christ had not answer'd for thee Loe I come Where are the other nine says Christ of the Lepers de ingratis quasi ignotis loquitur ungrateful men were not in Christs Book he knows not what becoms of them nor whither they wander so to enquire of Lazarus as if he knew not where he was laid is to set him forth as the similitude of a great sinner ubi posuistis where have you laid him nay but this agrees not perchance with his Sisters message He whom thou lovest is sick and again See how he loved him Yes it agrees full well Si peccatores non amaret Deus de coelo non descenderet it was out of a most compassionate love that God descended from heaven to save sinners Behold he lov'd him and yet Lazarus stands for the Parable of a sinner That foundation is laid and then you shall know the better what is meant by lying four days in the Sepulcher First we are all dead born man as soon as he sees the light his heart is in darkness he brings the seeds of original sin with his frail flesh into the world and then he is dead one day 2. Nature hath dictated a Law unto us The Gentiles are a Law unto themselves sais St.
express when Christ did appear to his mother after his Resurrection to shew he was no accepter of persons in way of carnal Affinity He did appear to more than five hundred brethren at once doubtless she was one of them he did appear to the eleven and to them that were gathered together with them Luk. xxiv 33. I may suppose the Blessed Virgin was there because she was John's charge to take her with him but certainly she was none of that Train which came early in the morning with Mary Magdalen to the Sepulcher Then let us proceed and say from hence that God hath done great honour to this Sex to make them the first Instruments that should know and declare his Resurrection Where were the Apostles at this time Alas they were terrified and had â—â—ielded like Men to the Passions of the Flesh they were shut up close for fear of the Jews and durst not shew their heads only a few Women which had followed Christ were more adventurous than all the rest and as if it irked them to care for their Life any longer since the Life of the World was put to death una salus nullam sperare salutem they step out boldly let come what will Wherefore to give you St. Austins words Munus Apostolicum viris creptum ad breve tempus eis resignat the Apostolical Office was taken from the Disciples for a time and it was given to them to preach that wonderful work of God Christ risen from the dead Audentes tu Christe juvas you shall lose nothing to be couragious in a good cause that great glory to see the Son of God in a vision now alive again was given to them that did adventure to find him Secondly none wept so much for his death as these tender-hearted souls the Daughters of Jerusalem they were the first that mourned and they are the first that be comforted the greatest partakers of grief for his passion are made the first partakers of joy for his Resurrection Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted And if there be any that repine much at their own daily misfortunes who say they have buâ—â—â—ttle joy in this world let them strike their hand upon their brest and say it is because they have taken but little grief Jesus is our Passeover that was sacrificed for us but you heard the Ceremony read to day which God appointed the Lamb must be eaten with sower herbs or else you must not taste of the Passeover Christian whosoever thou be that art taught this day what a victory thy Saviour obtained against the Grave and against the nethermost Hell if thy heart be not replenished with joy upon the tidings if it do not assure unto thee the seal of the Divine Promise which is the earnest of thine inheritance it is because thou hast not eaten sower herbs with the Passeover Thou hast not yet afflicted thy voluptuous heart sufficiently as Mary Magdalen did and the other women before they came unto the Sepulcher Thirdly women are the first witnesses in daily Childbirths how we are born into this world children of wrath and God hath revealed to their knowledge in the first place how we shall be made alive again and become heirs of salvation For Resurrection is the birth of the dust and when the Grave had given up the dead body of Christ these women came as it were unto the labour much about the time that the Monument did groan even when an Earthquake had gone just before it Once it was their curse to have a woe pronounced upon them In dolore paries In sorrow shalt thou bring forth Children Gen. iii. 16. Now they see another manner of travel that God can quicken us to life again not miserably but triumphantly and the earth shall give up the dead with joy and gladness Fourthly we may well know him to be the same Christ who was crucified and rose again the third day because he chose no better witnesses than these were for so great a mystery The world it may be will contemn such simplicity of the Spirit but because it so pleased our Saviour Mary Magdalen and the women are most authentick witnesses and beyond all exception Shepherds address unto his cratch where he was born Women unto his Tomb where he was risen from the dead that you may see how Satans method of deceiving is quite contrary to Gods method of saving The Devil dealt all by craft to tempt our first Parents in the shape of a Serpent and Christ deals all by simplicity and innocency through the testimony of Shepherds through the testimony of Women If you be hard to believe the things which were very strange at his Nativity and at his Resurrection examine these persons and ye shall have plain truth without tricks and turnings A righteous cause needs not a supportance by Art and subtilty a piercing wit may find a way to make a bad action seem good but when the action is without controversie good already the devices of a sharp wit will never make it seem better for truth is least suspected when it is not varnished over with Policy Lastly To end this Point among all other women Mary Magdalen the great sinner is with the first that comes unto the Sepulchre to refresh our conscience which is opprest with the fore burden of iniquity that our Redeemer liveth to gratifie repentant sinners in especial wise that fly unto his mercy If it were fit for Mary to bury her sins in that Grave it will be fit likewise for thee and me Repentance may be described to be the Resurrection of the soul from the death of sin And this Resurrection from sin which I may call Metaphorical hath a fast interest none so sure as it in Christ as he comes forth from the darkness of the grave and shines upon the world All men shall be restored to life just and unjust for the Son of God redeemed the whole nature of man from the corruption of the Grave and the Devil did utterly lose jus mortis the whole dominion of death because our Saviour being an innocent was put to death over whom he had no dominion But the glory of our Saviours victory was to conquer two at once Hell and Death So the Prophet Hosea cries out in form of an Epinicium O death where is thy sting O hell where is thy victory And from his own voice he declares his glory Rev. i. 18. I am he that liveth and was dead behold I am alive for evermore and have the keys of Hell and of Death Therefore this great Festival is the penitent sinners holy day for whose sakes both the Keys are turned for whose sakes both the Gates are opened that the soul may pass from the judgment of Hell and the body from the rottenness of corruption And thus it appears why Christ was first seen of Women in his bodily manifestation after death It was granted to their couragious attempt that durst
the dead and the resurrection of the soul from sin in this interview between himself and Mary Magdalen All men shall be restored to life good and bad for the Son of God redeemed the whole nature of man this day from the corruption of the Grave and the Devil did utterly loose jus mortis the dominion of death because our Saviour being an Innocent was put to death over whom he had no dominion But the glory of Christs victory was to conquer two at once Hell and Death So the Prophet Hosea cries out in form of triumph O Death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory and from his own voice Revel i. 18. I am he that liveth and was dead behold I am alive for evermore and have the keys of Hell and of Death So in his own person he shewed that he had conquered Death in the person of Mary Magdalen that he had conquered Hell Beloved this great day is Christs Festival and it is the Holiday of every penitent sinner because first he appeared to such an one to Mary Magdalen For our sakes both the Keys are turn'd and for our sakes both the Gates are opened that our bodies may escape the curse of corruption and that our souls may be delivered from the judgment of Hell through Jesus Christ the first fruits of the dead and that first appeared to an humble Convert AMEN THE EIGHTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MAT xxviii 9 10. And as they went to tell his Disciples behold Jesus met them saying all hail and they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him Then said Jesus unto them be not afraid go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me YOU may call to your remembrance that my subject upon Easter-day the last year was How Christ was first seen after he rose again from the dead of one whom he had raised before from the death of sin he appeared first to Mary Magdalen And in this Text other women have the next turn to see him appear in order of story That Sex it is apparent had the honour of the day in the first and second bout that the power of God might be seen in the weaker Vessels The women brought sweet Spices to embalm his body and they encounter that which was sweeter than all the Spices in the world the Vision of the Lord who came forth from the dark places of the dead to life again There is not the weakest capacity among you but must needs observe that the relations of these things are very diversly set down in the four Evangelists And there is not the learnedst capacity among men that can distinctly unfold how they should be reconciled I suppose the Primitive Church I mean the Disciples that were taught by the Apostles and other Scholars taught by them were informed of the true Exposition how every thing hapned in its order but the tradition is lost And they who boast they have kept the Traditions of the Church faithfully are not able to give us a clear rule how to refer these confusions to a certain order St. Paul 1 Cor. xv rehearseth sundry ways how Christ was seen of many after he rose from the dead yet he utterly omits how he was seen of these devout women St. John Chap. xx speaks of the famous interview between our Saviour and Mary Magdalen and no more Our Evangelist in the beginning of this Chapter mentions Mary Magdalen and the other Mary that is the Mother of Zebedees children he goes no further St. Mark quotes another woman that is Salome St. Luke names also one Joanna she was the Wife of Chusa Herods Steward and indefinitely he folds it up that there were other women whose particular cognisance is not revealed And divers things are related divers ways of these which may be reconciled as divers ways without jar or contradiction The stiffest knot in the dissention is that although St. Luke and St. Mark record how the Angels appeared to the women and spake unto them of Christs rising yet they do not say that Christ was seen of them St. Mark relates that he was seen of Mary Magdalen So doth St. John they go no further St. Matthew holds him to Mary Magdalen and to one other Mary that is all Yet he involves at large that as the women not those women only went to bring tidings to the Apostles of what they had seen and heard Christ did meet them by the way For the perplexity of these Narrations some do argue that none of the women saw him this day risen from the dead but Mary Magdalen and that when this Scripture says that he did appear to the women plurally yet it is a Synechdoche speaking that of many which was verified but in one for but one saw him instead of all her companions This is not so probable for it would work better if this truth were manifested by a multitude of Witnesses Others also consider that Mary Magdalen saw him alone and was controuled at that time not to touch him therefore it must be another Apparition when divers women did touch him and worship him Some say therefore that in a very little compass of time Mary Magdalen saw him twice this day unless there were two Mary Magdalens as St. Ambrose would have it first alone and then immediately with her Consorts Yet that seems not so congruous I can say no more against it that two Apparitions should be granted to her in a few moments Therefore without any pertinacy in rejecting the conjectures of others I conceive this second Apparition of Christ which we have in hand to be made to Mary the Mother of James Joanna and Salom with other devout women of Galilee when Mary Magdalen was lately departed from them to tell her errand to the Disciples Laying my ground upon that opinion I deduct these parts out of the Text First I will treat upon it what proceeded from the women Secondly what proceeded from Christ Touching the women again I will handle first what they did before they saw Christ secondly what they did after they had seen him Before they saw him they went to tell his Disciples somewhat After they had seen him 1. They came to him 2. They held him by the feet 3. They worshipped him That which belongs to Christ is contained in his Action and his Words His Action is thus expressed Behold Jesus met them His Words are first a Salutation All Hail 2. A Consolation Be not afraid 3. A Commission Go tell my Brethren that they go into Galilee 4. A Promise There they shall see me These are the several talents which God hath committed to me in this and now I will employ them for my Masters profit The women before they had seen our Saviour went to tell his Disciples that must be our beginning They went and went to and fro sundry times upon this occasion It could not choose but be observed by the eyes
usage that the souls were put to One at the wheel another drawing water some rowling stones and some twining cords every corner full of fretful industry For if Satan himself take no rest shall his instruments look for ease and softness Six days thou shalt labour God requires no more Nay thou shalt labour seven days Sunday and every day alike and break the Sabbath that is the Doctrine of the Tempter I speak to them that can judge of the secresie of States and the wisdom of the world what a Labyrinth Matchiavel hath put his disciples into to learn his mysteries and principles of treachery How many Centuries of Rules to be observed Which I know not but by the Index it will ask brains to dig and delve for that invention of iniquity but pure Religion and undefiled may be comprehended in the smalest Medal Love thy neighbour as thy self All Liquors that are wholsom for the sound are for the most part simple and unmixed but how many extractions go before how many distillations and decoctions follow after to make a Poyson Cariùs venenum quà m vinum bibitur It is an easie matter to tread the Vintage and press out the juyce of the Grape in great plenty but you must attend the fire and furnace to confect a drachm of poyson So the service of Baal is but vassalage his Priests roar from Morning to Evening they lance and wound their Carkasses fodiunt ad inferos they dig to Hell but the service of the Lord passeth away with joy and melody A sacrifice of Prayer at Morning and a sacrifice of praise at Evening an heart without guile towards men a stedfast belief in Jesus Christ this is all And yet will you say the ways of the Lord are grievous The forbidden fruit you know it was not planted in the skirts of Paradise near to the hedge where any man might reach it but in penetralibus in the midst of the garden as if God had hidden sin from man but that the Serpent made him industrious to find it out Quid irâ laboriosius says Seneca Look upon the pale face of anger and envy Is not that sin a labour Consider the loathing of surfeit and drunkenness is not that sin a labour Go to the Hospitals of incontinent lascivious persons see how their marrow and their bones are consumed is not that sin a labour Will you laugh a little at the pitiful object of a covetous man No we will not sport our selves with his vanity the Lord shall have him in derision but when he denies sleep to his eyes and meat to his belly and rest to his bones to scrape in a mite more to his heap is not that sin a labour Finally let us look upon our Parliament Pioneers such another Band as Judas brought from the High Priest with Lanthorns and Staves to betray Christ three years they kept this Fox in their bosom till at last it eat out their bowels Three years O Lord they did behold thy heavens above and all that time did never think of Hell that was within them Did they not plow up the Seas to and fro in conference with foreign Nations Did they not plow up the Land with their own arm and possessed vaults with all Munition as if they had belonged to the Devils Armory When were any Gentlemen daintily bread put more to labour What use shall we make now of all these instances But cast off the bondage of iniquity be not vassals to the Prince of darkness since Christ hath made you free O but you will say the work of Godliness is very great the Gospel is a yoke the way to glory is streight and narrow So it is And no question if you look not upon the reward to come every course in the world is painful Life and death the fear of God and the power of sin all are vexation of spirit in this corruptible flesh But Beloved who gave you feet and hands Who did frame your body woven with veines and strengthned with sinews What may God Almighty say that did all this As that Roman did to his Son Non te genui Catilinae sed patriae Since you needs must work either in my Vineyard or in the Devils Dunghil turn unto him that gave you limbs to work they were not made to dig into Hell but for my imployment and my glory And so much for the tedious labour to the which the ungodly do enthral themselves Now secondly digging doth imply that they cast about for conveyance and secresie a thing that God did always reprove ever since he divided between the light and darkness The Ferret the Mole and the Cony those creatures that dig into the ground were unclean food to Gods children Lev. xi Spiritus movebatur super expansum Gen. i. the face of the world lay open before God when the Spirit moved upon it but there are an evil sort of men whose Spirit never moves upon the face of the earth but live as if they were strangers in our Horizon and traded with our Antipodes close and subtle fearful of nothing but a revelation you can scarce fathom how deep their soul lies within their body When Saul enquired for the Prophet Samuel every Maiden whom he found carrying a pitcher of water could certifie him that the Man of God did sacrifice on the top of the hill 1 Sam. ix But he was fain to enquire and search over all the Land to find out the Witch of Endor Apemantus the Cynick says Plutarch never thought himself better than in the company but of one more his Partner Timon never thought himself more chearful than when he was quite left alone The face of man will ever carry so much reverence so much of the Image of God that outragious sins will turn away and be loth to appear before it Herodotus reports of certain Indians that were wont to blaspheme the bright Sun when it rose in glory as if the nights were too short to commit filthiness Why but our very name is enough to dispel darkness from our actions We are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say the Greeks as if men and day-children did not differ one letter and they that lurk and retire like Sisera in the Tent of Jael and live like Meteors the imperfect bodies of nature in a cloud they seem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to repine at their birth and creation which hath brought them to the light Besides that the substance of our nature is more naked from the womb than any beast without hair or feathers without scales or shell to cover us like the Fishes of the Sea Besides this I say Nature hath provided that the Countenance of no creature doth betray the inward disposition so much as the face of man Then let Herod the Fox know and the profound Craftsmen of our age that God hath half opened the heart of man in the complexion of his visage as Isaac did open the two Wells in the Valley
relate but that he finished this life I cannot say it His years are numbred before my Text like other mens three hundred sixty five just as many years as there be days in an usual year after the motion of the Sun not that this reckoning is the term of his life but the term of that time that he conversed with men As Tertullian glosseth upon St. Pauls words I am crucified with Christ How crucified and yet live Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia by the reformation of his life not by the loss of his life So Enoch had a period when he left to be with men Per emendationem vitae non per interitum substantia By an exaltation to a better life not by the corruption of his body As the men of Israel would not let Jonathan suffer death though Saul had given Sentence against him What say they shall Jonathan die that hath wrought such great salvation in Israel So when the Spirit of the Lord had testified what a Prophet Enoch was a perfect obedient that abhorred Will-worship a stiff maintainer of Gods part against the Devil and all his Instruments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a friend a familiar acquaintance a walker with God Upon this testimony Mercy opposeth Justice and though the Lord had said to Adam and to all that were in his loyns Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return What says Mercy shall Enoch die an example of repentance to all Generations So the stroke of death was diverted that he saw not the Grave and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him The partition which I framed upon the whole Verse was on this wise first how uncorrupt Enoch was in his ways he walked with God and secondly that he did not see corruption And this second Point which is reserved for this hours labour is to be handled in two several heads the former I will call Enoch's passage out of this world He was not The latter his reposure in another world For God took him His place was left empty among the Patriarchs below and he filled a room among the Thrones and Angels above Upon these two I shall handle many particular Doctrines before you And he was not a concise phrase you see and brevity will breed obscurity especially put this unto it that it is a form of speech which is not used again in this sense to my remembrance in all the Scripture But the sense is made plain by St. Paul Heb. xi 5. By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death He had a passage out of this world without any dissolution of the soul from the body In the same body that he pleased God says Irenaeus he was translated being never uncloathed of the flesh that he might put on immortality That this truth may be carried the clearer I will debate it a little with them that oppose it and with them that qualifie it Some of the Hebrew Rabbines as I find them quoted because they consult not with the authority of the New Testament think they are not convicted by the Old Testament but that they may conclude how Enoch died and was taken away in an early Age as those times went much sooner than his Forefathers As if this Verse did rather bemoan him for his untimely departure than renown him for some glorious favour which did befal him The phrase indeed if we look no farther will bear it both in sacred and in heathen Writings to say of one departed fuit he was but is not this was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fair way of language to avoid an unpleasing word Yet the phrase doth not always stand in that sense but hath a double acception and both in one verse that you may the better carry it away Gen. xlii 36. Jacob there bemoans himself for the waat of two Children Joseph is not and Simeon is not the one he took to be dead indeed the other to be in fast hold and taken from his eyes removed where he could not come at him as Enoch was but no more So the Chaldee Paraphrase explains the meaning of Jacob Joseph non superest Simeon non est hic Joseph is quite lost and Simeon is not here The phrase then accords very well with that place of the Hebrews by faith Enoch was translanted that he saw not death And my Text must incline to that exposition for two reasons First that the Lord took him stands for a consequent that he was pleased in him it is the reward as you would say that he walked with God not that there is a necessary and perpetual coherency in it that whosoever walks with God should be exalted into Paradise and not see corruption but Enochs righteousness by a priviledge of favour was so requited a favour then being understood in those words it cannot be the sentence of death upon him it is impossible Secondly in this Chapter the last word that the Holy Ghost gives of Adam is Et mortuus est and he died so of Seth so of Enos so of Cainan so of all the Antecessors of Enoch wherefore unless Enoch had some other issue out of this world diverse from the rest which was by translation without death why should it be said of him so differently from all others he was not for the Lord took him So I have corrected the great error of those Hebrew Doctors who would lay Enochs honour in the dust But I suppose the general Exposition of the Jews was right and according to St. Pauls doctrine For Paul wrote to the Hebrews that he saw not death knowing the tradition was commonly so received among them and the Chaldee Paraphrast who lived straight after Christ was of the same judgment beside one of great note among them says he was disarrayed of the foundation corporal and cloathed with the foundation spiritual which words I conceive do jump with those who oppose not the Scripture that he saw not death far be it from them but they have a qualification for the meaning of it that death is taken two ways most properly for the separation of one essential part of man from the other the body from the soul a loath to depart it is a most unwelcom dissolution a punishment upon the sin of our first Father which was remitted to Enoch improperly it is no more but the separation or extinction of corruptible qualities from the soul and body one whom I named even now called it the disarraying of a man from the foundation corporal and so Enoch was purified altered made quite another man in the very moment that he was wrapt up to heaven This evacuation of corruptible qualities from the flesh is called death by some very good Authors in our own Church and so Procopius much more ancient than they Mirabili modo mortis defunctus est ad vitam coelestem translatus it was a rare and admirable kind of death he suffered
to wound them but to heal them I have learnt a distinction in another place from the same man sufficient to refute him It is this Every affliction that gainsays the pleasure and content of nature is first a punishment then it is a medicine or salve to cure you as you use it Do you not see the error that Aquinas draws upon himself If to punish one man for anothers trespass is unjust and wrongful except it be like the Acrimony of some preventing Physick then God doth evil that good may be gained from it O says Abraham God forbid that the Judge of all the world should do unjustly Now do you understand how these cunning Benjamites the Schoolmen have cast their distinctions at the truth just like Mnestheus in Virgil who shot at the Dove and mist it but cut the string in twain by which it was tied fast before Ast ipsam miserandus avem contingere ferro Non valuit nodos vincula linea rupit Now the harvest is ripe and it is time to give in the right Verdict upon the Controversie And as the Alabaster Box of Oyntment which was broken in the Gospel was burst for the honour of our Saviour but the sweet smell did refresh all the Disciples which were about it So my conclusion shall be dedicated to Gods honour and to your instruction I have many Theorems to propound unto you but all shall end in this Doctrine That excepting the first Adam the root of our corrupt nature and excepting the second Adam who being without spot or sin gave himself to the death of the Cross for the sins of all the world these two excepted every man dies propter peccatum suum for his own iniquity First I do presume that you will consent unto me that the heart of man is only evil continually And that we may call it as Theodorus did revile Tiberius Lutum saenguine maceratum mud tempered with pollution As one said of the High Court of Judges in Athens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 you could not miss of a righteous man among them though you pickt in the dark But I say we cannot find out a good man though we sought him carefully at noon-day For the Lord himself hath looked down from heaven and we are all become abominable usque ad unum and that one is Jesus Christ Then it is confessed that the wages of sin is death Seriùs ocyùs sometimes before we were born but as suddenly as God shall call upon us to pay the common debt of nature Nemo nisi suo die moritur says Seneca My day to die was every day since I had an hour to live Silly soul do you think it an injury to die a babe To die an Ignorant of misery Did you ever hear an Infant complain of short life Nay rather did not Moses weep because he was preserved in the Ark of Bulrushes and had his misery prolonged We have heard many old men that would cry rather than sing at Nunc Dimittis when they put from shore for ever But come death quickly come heaven the sooner let all the world change in the twinkling of an eye and then come Resurrection come Lord Jesus Are the shortest Livers unkindly dealt with Non magis queri debes de repentinâ morte quam qui citò navigavit Do complain that wind and tide have brought you too quickly to your haven Give me your credit but to one thing more You are bound to answer to as painful and severe death as Gods vengeance shall inflict upon you I think I might have seen in the days of Herod when Rachel mourned for her Children one little Saints soul pincht out of the body as a cherry stone spirted between the fingers a most calm deliverance and another babe Lacerum crudeliter ora ora manusque ambas cut in pieces with a wound bigger than the body How comes this to pass for both were Infants Not because the one smarted for his Fathers Usury and Sacriledge more than the other but because God said no more Gen. iii. then man shall die But whether by fire or water peaceable or tyrannous it is free in the Lords appointment from the sixth day of the Creation to the worlds end Now let us see if we can find any thing in that which we have caught to pay Tribute unto God You cannot deny but Death and Diseases and Poverty Laethumque labosque are due to every sinner and all these in such a time as God likes best whether it be at Noontide or at Evening or in the Dawning of the day and with such measure and quantity as God hath prepared the Viols of his wrath Then why art thou disquieted O my soul and why should I fear to pay the price of those sins which are not mine The poor Subjects have lost their lives in the Kings iniquity witness David and Israel The Children for the Fathers witness Sodom and Gomorrah The Family with the Master as it was with Core and his accomplices Lastly some of all sorts did drink the same cup with Achan in his iniquity ay dearly beloved at this time God called upon them all to die who were bound to die for their own sins at any time Now let me raise you up from the long consideration of this Point as the Angel did Elias under the Juniper tree and you shall find a Cake upon the coals some few Meditations from hence that God makes the sin of one man an occasion to destroy a multitude First If the disobedience of one sinner is enough to consume many persons Lord whither will a multitude of iniquity send one man headlong Sufficient are our evil days wherein we have walked too much before after the vanity of our mind Secondly As the greatest unity of the Triumphant Church above doth consist in the glory which they enjoy together in the sight of God So our unity of the militant Church below is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to suffer and die together Poterant nec morte râ—velli It is that which must combine the souls of Christians Thirdly Shall not this make me as careful to prevent every mans sins as mine own Shall I not offer my self to be my brothers keeper Like watchmen that compass the Câ—ty in the night not only for the safety of their own house but lest any Mansion take fire about them But especially who is a Father of Children that will not consider his sins may be as ready to destroy as his Loyns have been fruitful to bring Sons into the world Can you revile the King of Moab that sacrificed his Son Do you detest their abominations that made their Children pass through the fire to Molech Is it good in you to declaim against the severity of Brutus and Torquatus and such cruel Fathers But spare them O child of pollution or accuse thy self Are not your sins murderers as well as theirs You gave life by nature and you destroy it by iniquity When God
moral just man may be carnal A moral chaste man may be covetous But if it be spiritual temperance or spiritual chastity coming from the grace of God it will be justice and peace and mercy and all the whole swarm of vertues that can be recited There is a difficult point in one of the Parables about a man that had not on a Wedding Garment What is this Wedding Garment One will have it to be Faith another to be Good Works a third to be spiritual Joy a fourth to be repentance Why Origen prevented all these controversies before they were moved if he had been mark'd Says he Vestis nuptialis est textura omnium virtutum The Wedding Garment is all these and more than these for it signifies that all vertue in the several threds should be woven into our heart Faith Hope and Charity are fruits that hang all upon a stalk three several divine graces yet they have but one soul Faith says there is a Kingdom prepared for the righteous Hope catcheth hold and says it is prepared for me Then Charity comes in for her part and says I will run to obtain it They are like the three principal vital parts in mans body the Heart the Brain and Liver One is as necessary as all three together for the decay of either is death without redemption No stragling single solitary vertue which hath no fellows comes from this coelestial watering The spiritual service of God says a learned Author may be measured three ways 1. Whether it come ex toto corde from all the heart from all the strength and from all the soul 2. Whether it be Cum totâ plenitudine with all the confluence of good works as it were in one fortunate conjunction 3. Whether it be in toto tempore continually and at all times alike Spiritus vivificat Joh. vi It is the Spirit that quickneth which makes a good man live and fructifie at one time as much as another It is no dead moisture which can do no good upon a Plant unless the Sun likewise be in a fit ascension to cherish it and make it spring This is living water 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostome It impels the Conscience to be never out of motion in some spiritual exercise The Son of God is called a living stone and the Spirit living water and man a living Sacrifice Righteousness is the savour of life unto life dead works are the savour of death unto death A tree that always bears is a Plant of Paradise Not a little Repentance or a little Charity once or twice a year at a Communion and then shake hands with Mortification till the next Christmass or Easter Among other reasons why the Holy Ghost assumed the shape of a Dove this is reckoned for one that it is a bird of a most teeming fecundity whether any bird that flies lay oftner I am not certain I believe not many such fecundity there is in a lively Faith it is never without some good Work either the Tongue is Praying or the Ear is Hearing or the Heart is Meditating or the Eye is Weeping or the Hand is Giving or the Soul is Thirsting for Remission of sins And this is enough to shew what fruitfulness is brought to pass by this heavenly moisture and for the first part of the Text. Yet it were an undervaluing and a diminution to so great a blessing to be called water unless the second part of my text did hold up the dignity let us come therefore to consider the rare vertue which is in it for it takes away the molestation of thirst for ever But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst Yet I will take in no more than the Text doth directly prove and leave that which some would draw in ex abundanti by the strength of their conjectures There are those that make this verse a convincing argument how a man that hath tasted the grace of God is never empty more but assuredly full and satisfied to the end of his life Which way soever the truth of that Controversie stands I wave it off but I think this Text is not to be charged with that meaning as if it proved it 'T is true he that drinks of this water shall never thirst but quousque bibendum how long must he drink let him drink all his days while his breath lasts and then he shall be satisfied with the goodness of the Lord as out of a River Again call to remembrance what is meant by this water every good and perfect gift which enricheth the Soul descending from the Father of lights but among all that heavenly Offspring perseverance is the fairest Nymphas supereminet omnes Perseverance must not be excluded from the Text. Then I have done with this rubb in a word he that drinks of this water and puts perseverance into the Cup he shall never thirst He shall never thirst Why then says the Son of Syrach concerning the wisdom which sanctifieth all things They that eat me shall yet be hungry and they that drink me shall yet be thirsty Ecclus xxiv 21. and very certain none so greedy to have more grace as he that hath some already none so instant to get ten Talents as he that hath received five Let Elisha be inspired with a competent measure for one of the Children of the Prophets and he will presume to ask that a double portion of Elias his spirit may rest upon him if it be possible Concerning all the fruits of the Spirit this judgment of Gregorie's is undoubted cum non habentur in falstidio sunt cum habentur in desiderio they that have them not think vilely of them they that have them do insatiably desire them Please you for the true explanation of the words to mark the Proposition must not be taken alone by it self but respectively to the Comparison that went before The water which the Woman of Samaria came for it consumes after you have tasted it and it is missed as if it never had been Therefore we call for Elementary drink every day for as much as drought is a torment to nature now when we are once made partakers of living waters we call for more and more not because want and driness doth afflict us but because desire doth please us So that distinction used by many will be clear to be understood sitis ariditati non desiderio opponitur he that drinks these waters of the Holy Spirit shall never after have a dry and a parched Soul but he shall ever have a thirsty affection to drink his fill The vertue therefore of the Spirit may be well drawn to these three heads First it moistens the Soul that it feels no driness like a barren Land which hath no natural humour in it there is no such thirst in him that hath a lively faith but it cannot choose but beget a thirsty affection and a longing to add more and more unto
convenient to begin your Reformation from the moment wherein you heard the Word taught in that place that then you stand slip off the old Serpents skin and renew your youth become a new Creature No man would sin so fast but he that thinks his Age runs away but slowly no man would be an unrepentant sinner to day but that he hopes for to morrow And why to morrow Nemo non suo die moritur My day to die was every day since I had an hour to live And I was a sinner before the first minute of that hour expired therefore why should not my heart smite me and contrition humble me lest Judgment should begin as soon as this word is spoken It is the Devils muttering and not a Christians to say Art thou come to torment us before thy time Of three things Cato did repent of more than the rest this is one Quod unum diem mansisset intestatus A day past over his head wherein his Will was not made he might have died intestate If a Heathen were so sollicitous that upon every day the things of this life might be duly ordered what care ought to be taken that we suffer not our eyes to flumber untill all things be accorded for the peace of our conscience for our reconciliation in Christ Jesus against the world to come Sickness and Death and Judgment who knows whether they be not as near to us as the avenging Angel was unto Herod who did immediately smite him that he was eaten c. Now I am faln in the last place upon the true castigation of Herods pride Tantus tam luctuosè that such a Potentate should die so miserably eaten up of Worms for five days says Josephus after he was smitten and then gave up the Ghost Lest he should glory that he was smitten by no less than an Angel Aeneae magni dextrâ behold the meanest of all Creatures the Worms are made his Executioners And lest he should domineer as Eusebius said he did that he died not sordidly in the rank of a mean man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the dignity of a King which is the much admired happiness therefore the loathsomness of his Disease the ignobleness of the Scourge the irrecoverableness of the Mischief all are conjoyn'd to debase his Spirit O torture little dreamt of at this time Had he not the Physicians of Arabia about him How could he feel mortality Was he not in perfect strength to make Orations to the People What could be doubted of his health Was not his body kept sweet and clean like the body of a King Who would have suspected the putrefaction of Worms But remember that Manna bred Worms and stank though it came from heaven when it was too long preserved against Gods Commandment So though the Soveraignty of a King do come from heaven yet if it offend the Lord it will consume and putrifie He that humbled himself to be vermis non homo a worm and no man he is exalted above men to the right hand of God He that would have been Deus non homo a God and not a man is dejected below a man and made a worm See what contrariety of Instruments God did use to make his death the stranger an Angel and a Worm An Angel that he might say with the Philistines Who is able to endure these mighty Gods A Worm that he might say Et tu Brute the meanest of Creatures can conquer a King by Gods ordination An Angel for his sake who was the Judge to shew his mightiness A Worm for his sake that was judged to shew his baseness An Angel to shew how a sinner cannot look upon heaven for it is full of wrath A Worm to shew he cannot tread safely upon the earth for it is full of vengeance An Angel is an immortal Creature to threaten such pain unto the soul A Worm is a most corruptible creature to shew the fading of the body As St. Paul said of his Widows which were busie-bodies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 She that is wanton is dead while she is alive because she is dead to Faith and good Works So I may say of Herod that he died while he was alive for Worms which feed sweetly upon the dead as Job says fed upon him in his life-time as if he had been buried after he had solemnly made his own Funeral Oration As the Poet spake of a poysonous death which wasted the body first and separated the soul afterward Eripiunt omnes animam tu sola cadaver So I may say of this Phthiriasis First it did eat up the body and so left no room for the soul to inhabite in the members Expertes opes ignaros quid vulnera vellent says Lucretius When anguish doth tear their heart skill cannot afford recovery when their whole body is but one sore they know not where they are wounded This disease is more observed in Histories to be the Arrow of the Lord against sinners of high presumption than any other Thus Sylla died thus Antiochus Epiphanes thus Herod the Great thus Arnulphus that spoiled the Churches of the Christians thus Phericides that gloried he never offered Sacrifice and yet lived as prosperously Quà m qui heccatombas immolant What do we talk of Blazing-stars that they are only fatal and ominous to the life of Noble Personages a few Worms have often bereaved them of their soul as easily as the little Worm smote the Gourd of Jonas But will some man say Do you make this disease an infallible sign of Gods especial indignation Brethren God forbid For Judgments fall promiscuously in this life upon the good and bad Seest thou a man rent with as many torments of infirmities as there be members in his body to receive them let your first Meditation be Acerrimum est praelium in viâ magnus erit triumphus in patriâ He suffers much in this life his triumph will be the greater in the world to come And let your second consideration be the dreadfulness of Gods anger Says Tertullian to the Roman Lords the tortures of your Bondslaves are Fetters your reward is a Cap of Liberty but we are servants of the most high Cujus judicium in suos non in compede aut pileo vertitur sed in aeternitate poenae aut salutis Whose judgment gives sentence either of Hell or Everlasting salvation To answer you more copiously One circumstance alone had bred no ill opinion of Herods death Many circumstances raise a suspicion that his Life was Criminal and his Death Exemplary 1. To be smitten in a sin immediately upon the fact to be smitten by an Angel to be gnawn to death with Worms the divine hand was over this Sentence and no natural cause Unless as Tertullian said of their lascivious Theaters that resounded with scurrility Ipse aer qui desuper incubat scelestis vocibus constupratur So that Sacrilegious shout which the people gave against the
before King James I. Vpon Amos ix 2. Though they dig into Hell thence shall my hand take them p. 742 II. Vpon Acts xxviii 5. And he shook the beast into the fire and felt no harm p. 752 II Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gen. v. 24. And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him p. 762 Upon the same p. 771 III. Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gen. viii 20 21. And Noah builded an Altar to the Lord and took of every clean Beast and of every clean Fowl and offered burnt offerings on the Altar And the Lord smelled a sweet savour p. 780 Upon the same p. 789 Upon the same p. 798 II Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gen. xix 26. But his Wife lookt back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt p. 896 Upon the same p. 815 A Sermon preached at Whitehall upon Numb xxi 7. Pray unto the Lord that he take the Serpents from us p. 823 A Sermon upon Joshua xxii 20. And that man perished not alone in his iniquity p. 831 A Fast Sermon preached at Whitehall upon Nehem. i. 4. And it came to pass when I heard these words that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven p. 849 A Sermon upon Prov. iii. 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee p. 862 II Sermons concerning the Rechabites upon Jer. xxxv 6. But they said we will drink no wine p. 873 II Sermons preached at Whitehall upon John iv 13 14. Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst p. 483 Upon the same p. 902 III Sermons preached at Whitehall upon John vi 11. And Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks distributed to the Disciples and the Disciples to them that were set down and likewise of the fishes as much as they would p. 911 Upon the same 921 Upon the same 931 A Sermon preached at Whitehall upon St. Lukes day upon Acts xi 26. And the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch p. 941 A Commencement Sermon preached at Cambridge upon Acts xii 23. And immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory p. 952 III Sermons preached at Whitehall upon Gal. iv 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all p. 964 Upon the same 973 Upon the same 983 II Sermons preached upon All Saints day in Holbourn I. Upon Rev. vi 9. I saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the Testimony which they held p. 992. II. Vpon Rev. vi 10. And they cried with a loud voice saying How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judg and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth p. 1003 AN ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE and DEATH OF THE AUTHOR THE Son of Sirach a renowned Preacher in his Generation has given us counsel to commend Famous Men and our Fathers of whom we are begotten and in the close of his excellent Book has presented us with a large Catalogue of them together with an Encomium of their Actions whose remembrance sayes he is sweet as Honey in all Mouths and pleasant as Musick at a Banquet of Wine St. Paul has directly imitated the Son of Sirach and enumerated many antient Heroes not without a due Commemoration and farther given us a Precept To remember our Governors or Guides in the Christian Faith holy Bishops and Martyrs after their death as appears plainly by the following words whose faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Accordingly in the Primitive times the Bishops of Rome took care that the lives and actions of all holy Men and Martyrs especially should be recorded For this purpose publick Notaries were appointed by S. Clement say some though Platina first ascribes their institution to Anterus whose Records were far more large than the present Roman Martyrology or that of Bede and Vsuardus or the Menologue of the Greeks which for the most part contain only the Names and Deaths of the Martyrs but those were a Narrative of their whole Lives and Doctrines and Speeches at large their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 famous Acts and Sufferings for the Christian Faith which were also read sometimes in their Religious Assemblies for the encouragement of others and are said to have converted many to the Christian Faith But these long since perished through the malice and cruelty of Dioclesian in those fires which consumed their Bodies and their Books together Afterwards when Christian Religion reflourished the Christian Church resumed these Studies again St Ambrose did right to the memory of Theodosius Paulinus of St. Ambrose Nazianzen to Athanasius St. Hierom to Nepotian Possidonius to St. Austin Amphilochius to St. Basil St. Hierom and Gennadius wrot of all Ecclesiastical Writers and illustrious men in the Christian Church from the beginning of it to their own times And after all these there wanted not Martyrologers and Writers of Lives but such as perhaps we had better have wanted than enjoyed their Writings insomuch that a great Lieutenant under the Papal Standard durst affirm that the Stories of the Heathen Captains and Philosophers were more excellently written then of Christs own Apostles and Martyrs For those were done so notably that they were like to live for ever whereas the lives of many Saints in the Christian Church were so corruptly and shamefully penn'd that they could no way advantage the Reader so that at this day we have two things to bewail not only that we have lost the true reports of the Primitive Christians but likewise that the lives of the Saints we have remaining have not been written by Saints and true men but by liars who have stufft their fastidious Writings with so many prodigious Tales as are more apt to beget infidelity than faith and all honest and judicious men are ashamed and grieved to read them For my own part I intend not in this tumultuary haste to write an absolute Life of the Author or recollect all his Actions praise-worthy but only for satisfaction of some importunate friends to represent quaedam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some few Memoirs and Passages of his Life which I have received from his Lordships most intimate acquaintance and for the most part from his own reports Tecum etenim longos memini consumere Soles and in them am resolved to sacrifice to Truth and not to Affection to the glory of God and not to humane fame to write nothing false or fictitious nor things true in an hyperbolical and flaunting manner as in a Panegyrick but only a Breviary of his most active and industrious life where the truth shall be recited without false Idea's and representations and his Lordship made to appear what really he was both in his Divine vertues and humane passions
was a great lover of Residence and would say Non-residence was never to be excused but when utility to the Church or necessity to the Person for his real health or fitting State required it Yet he would often dispute the necessity of a Country Living for a London Minister to retire to in hot Summer time out of the Sepulchral air of a Church-yard where most of them are housed in the City and found for his own part that by Whitsuntide he did rus anhelare and unless he took fresh air in the Vacation he was stopt in his Lungs and could not speak clear after Michaelmas But upon one of these he was constantly resident making as few excursions for pleasure or recreation as any man living scarce ever absent from both nor long from either in so much that his friend Dr. Holdsworth said Dr. Hacket resided more upon two Livings than any Puritan that ever he knew did upon one who usually made more idle Sallies and gossiping Visits from their Charge to Markets and Fairs and of late to attend Committees and such Secular Employments than they whom they ejected for non-Residents did in their attendance at Court or elsewhere Our Bishop would declare that naturally he was disaffected to live either in City or Court yet it pleased God against his disposition to bring him into both who valued rural retirement and repose at his Study above all the Riches and Dignities of the World and would often therefore recite those words Come my Beloved let us retire into the Villages c. and that unless it were for the service of God all the world should not hire him to live among Butchers and Bakers and Brewers Tradesmen of all sorts in the narrow Streets of London where he could not see the Sun but in some few days all Summer Yet this he willingly yielded to a great part of the year for the sake of others knowing with St. Hierom Sancta simplicitas solùm sibi prodest Country retirement was good only for himself but his Place at Holbourn rendred him beneficial to others and therefore would compare the Contemplative life spent in Prayer Study and Meditation to Rachel who was very beautiful but almost barren on the other side an active and laborious one spent in daily conversation and holy Ministrations to Mankind to Leah who was more fruitful though less pleasing and fair and to encourage Divines to this observ'd that no less than three of four Evangelists had taken it for their principal Task to record our Saviours Travels and Miracles going up and down from one City to another onely St. John took the other Subject to recount to us especially our Saviour's Meditations and Prayers and therefore he little valued that commendation of many Popish Saints for leaving the company of Mankind and retiring into Deserts where they could scarce have opportunity at any time to exercise Piety or Charity which was in his opinion to forsake the Plow and cast off Christ's Yoke and embrace idleness if not pleasure At Holbourn he generally resided till the end of Trinity Term and preached in person upon all the great Feasts of the Church and all Sundays in Term when the Judges and Lawyers were in Town without admitting any supply and then commonly retired in the long Vacation for health and privacy till Michaelmas Term. Sometimes indeed he would steal out of Town for one Month in the Spring which he believed no man did so much Epicurize as himself who ever found a most luscious sweetness in the Month of April and nothing else so pleasant in this life as with a Book in his hand to walk and view the fields and flowers and to observe every blossom how it grew in that delicious season of the year In the last year of King James he was named by the King himself to attend an Embassador into Germany at which he was very glad being most desirous to travel and be acquainted with learned men abroad saying onely low souls loved to dwell always at home but more knowing and Divine like the Heavens above delighted in business and motion yet upon second thoughts he was disswaded from the Journey for having wrot Loyola he was told he would never be able to go safe though in an Embassadors Train To the Memory of King James no man living bore greater respect than our Bishop did for his great wisdom learning pacifick disposition and affection to the Church to which he thought he might be stiled a Benefactor equal to Constantine the Great His Life he long intended to write and to that purpose the Keeper confer'd upon him Mr. Camden's Manuscript Notes of that Kings Reign till his own death Anno 1623. and his dear Friend and fellow Servant Mr. John St. Amand communicated to him many choice Letters and Secrets of State of his own collection who in like manner designed the same thing to whom the Bishop recommended the perfecting thereof But the melancholy Rust of the Civil War had so eaten into that Gentlemans soul that it had quite unfitted him and the Bishop also having lost many of his Books and Papers upon his Sequestration at Holbourn was made uncapable to proceed farther in it And now having spent some time in his Country-solitariness at Cheam where he had no company but his Books though formerly he never meant to have entred into a married state he cast his affection upon a religious and virtuous Gentlewoman whom he made his Wife With this secret he had never acquainted his Master the Keeper and therefore doubted how he would take it but upon his Lordships first hearing thereof by another hand he instantly took Coach and made him a Visit and enjoyn'd him onely as ever he had deserv'd well of him to requite it unto Her by her God blessed him with several hopeful Children but she died Anno 1637. and after some years he was married a second time to a most select wise and religious woman by whom likewise he had a second Posterity and by both lived to see 32 Children and Grand-children before his death Anno 1628. He commenced Doctor of Divinity when he preached the Morning Sermon upon Herod's not giving glory to God and being struck by an Angel and eaten up of worms and performed all other Exercises to the admiration of Dr. Collins and all other Professors who dismist him to London again with an I Decus I Nostrum At his return to Holbourn his Fame increased exceedingly where by indefatigable Study constant Preaching exemplary Conversation and wise Government he reduced that great Parish to a more perfect Conformity than ever they were in before His Church was not only crowded at Sermons but well attended upon all occasions of weekly Prayer and Sacraments celebrated Monthly besides other times at which especially upon the Churches Festivals not only the whole Body of the Church but the Galleries would also be full of Communicants and all things were done in decoro sanctitatis
nothing but the ruine that came He was naturally of a very pleasant and chearful temper but sad news made his soul retire a great way further into him and quite of another humour Indeed no man was more troubled and angustiated in mind for the miseries and distresses of this Church and Kingdom I have often heard his deep Sighs and his great Complaints when he did profess he did only breath but not live I have seen the heaviness of his eyes when he spake nothing his grave and ripe wisdom made him apprehend Fears more deeply than other people did But when his Majesties sufferings in Person came no man could conjecture the load of sorrow that was upon him He would say he felt his old heart wither within him and could not but sigh away his spirit he would often repent He had done no more by Preaching and Writing to prevent it and after the Kings Death frequently desired nothing else but to depart from this world of sin and suffering crying out Satur sum omnium quae video aut audio But next to the Death of his Royal Majesty he would bewail the cutting up the pleasant Vine of the Church of England and alienating the Churches Patrimony together with those of the King Queen Loyal Nobility and Gentry whereby the whole Kingdom of England was then in the hands of unjust Possessors For the Citie 's abetting this bloudy War He was now grown to a strong aversation toward London the place where he was born baptized bred and nothing could ever move him to go thither more until the Earls of Holland and Norwich both requested his Assistance at their expected deaths The Earl of Holland was very penitent for that he had deserted so good a Master in the beginning of the Wars Norwich was very chearful in the comforts of a good Conscience He would much admire how God sometimes gives secret admonition of things contrary to all humane expectations for the Earl of Holland had many Messengers came and told him they had Votes enough and to spare for his life yet nothing would perswade him but he should die within a few days and so he did The Earl of Norwich that knew of no friends yet would not believe but he should escape and so he did After this he return'd to his Rural retirement to end his Old Age in continual Prayer and Study omitting all exercise of body whereupon he fell into a great fit of sickness and upon his recovery the famous Dr. Harvy enjoyned him two things to renew his chearful conversation and take moderate walks for exercise assuring him that in his practise of Physick since these times he observed more people died of grief of mind than of any other disease and that his studious and sedentary life would contract him frequent sickness unless he used seasonable exercise Whereupon afterwards for his healths sake he would every Morning before he setled to his study take large walks very early to make him expectorate phlegm and other cloudy and fuliginous vapours whereby he afterwards continued Vegete and healthful to the last At this time he did much good in the Country by keeping many Gentlemen firm to the Protestant Religion who were much assaulted by lurking Priests who sought to perswade them that it was then necessary to joyn with the Roman Church or else they could be of none for they saw as the others said the Protestant Church quite destroyed But the good Doctor advised them better that the Church of England was still in being and not destroyed rather refined by her sufferings God then tried us as Silver is tried in the hot fire of persecution which purifies but wastes not Then especially our Church resembled the Primitive which grew up in persecutions and as the Earth is said to be the Lords in all its Fulness so the Church of England was the Lords in all its penury and emptiness And in these lowest of times he was full of faith and courage that himself should still live to see a better world one day and would greatly blame any of the Kings Friends who despaired of seeing the time of the restitution of all things His opinion was the Youths at Westminster spun a Spiders Web that could not last long and therefore was very confident of his Majesties return and would instance in Josephs case who was sometime sold for a slave imprisoned as a Malefactor yet afterwards advanced to be Governour of the Kingdom and in David who was hunted over all the Mountains of Israel yea and forced to fly his Country too and yet after brought to the Throne and also in Caius Marius who was forced to hide himself in the Flags of a Fenny ditch from the pursuers of Sylla so that the Historian asks Quis eum fuisse Consulem aut futurum crederet Who would ever have thought him to have been Consul or should live to be Consul again And therefore when any would say There was but little hope he would answer Tum votorum locus est cum nullus est spei They ought to pray the more and Prayer was a good reserve at the last cast Accordingly he would acknowledge that his many cares for the welfare of the King and Church of England did often send him to his Prayers but gave God thanks that his Prayers did always expel his cares After a day spent in Prayer he would tell an especial Friend he found in himself a marvelous illumination and chearfulness in the Evening and that as usually thick clouds in Winter cause dark weather till they were dissolved in rain or snow but then the Sun would shew himself and the air grow pleasant again So sorrows and cares cloud the mind and soul till we are able to dissolve them into devotion and holy Prayers and then post nubila Phoebus and professed nothing more contributed to his divine joys than his often reading and meditation upon Davids Psalms which he conceived they had done very wisely who set them in the midst of the Bible as the Fourth Commandment for Religious Assemblies was by God himself in the midst of the Decalogue In those doleful days that was done in St. Paul's London which Selymus threatned to St. Peter's at Rome to Stable his horses in the Church and feed them at the High Altar whereupon our Doctor was very confident their ruine grew ripe apace and not long after hapned the death of Oliver of which being suddenly told and the manner of it he only said as Tully of a Villain Mortem quam non potuit optare obiit and that we should see within a little while all the world would stink of him and disdain his Arbitrary and bloudy usurpations and accordingly in a very short time we saw all things incline to work about the happy revolution towards the accomplishment whereof no man was more active in stirring up the Nobility Gentry Clergy and People to desire a free Parliament and Petition General Monk
Tribes carried quite away by Salmanezar only Judah and Benjamin were left behind not able for their small number to fill the whole Land of Canaan whereupon that part wherein Nazareth and Capernaum did stand was called Galilee of the Gentiles Mark here the equity and indifferency of the Son of God both to Jew and to Barbarian He was conceived among the Gentiles at Nazareth brought forth into the world among the Jews at Bethlem Lived at Galilee of the Nations but died at Hierusalem So in this Gospel his Mother brought him forth within the Walls of the City that was proper to the Jew but the tydings were heard abroad without the Walls in the Country that was proper to the Gentiles The Collection is not violent but natural for so St. Paul argues that Christ belonged unto us aliens from the Covenant who were not of the Jews that served at the Tabernacle for Jesus also that he might sanctifie the people with his own bloud suffered without the Gate The benefit of our Saviours life and death was communicated to all people not only to the Seed of David passus extra Hierusalem He suffered not within but without Jerusalem because the fruit of his death lay open to all Ascendens è monte Oliveti extra Bethaniam Ascended into Heaven upon the mount of Olives without the Town of Bethany because he opened the Kingdom of Heaven for all believers But hear what follows in the Jesuit Salmeron natus in Speluncâ extra Bethlem born in a Grote or Cave for so he calls the Manger without the Town of Bethlem because the benefit of his Incarnation was open and publick to all Here his observation sticks and is erroneous although he hath the judgment of Cajetan to favour him and the conjecture of Baronius almost concurring with him for he says the Stable was in Suburbiis Bethlem not within but without the Gates in the Suburbs of Bethlem And what more manifest to convince their fancy than the eleventh verse of this Chapter This day is born unto you a Saviour in the City of David The Moral therefore is more fitly made up as I told you before that He came first into the world in the City of Bethlem by which deed he doth intimate that He was made flesh for the Salvation of the Jew but the tidings were heard abroad at the first publication in the same Country whereby it appears he was made man also for the salvation of the Gentile Another circumstance of place is in the Text that the Angel chose the open fields to annunciate the Messias of the world and who can deem but that they were fitly chosen for the purpose The Priests of the Temple would not be glad to hear of him that cut off their Types and Ceremonies they that inhabit the City would not relish such a Prophet that will say unto them Sell all and give it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven The pleading places of Justice would laugh at his prescription He that taketh away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also The Seas had heard of nothing but Neptune and Thetis and the titles of false Gods all their ships were called by the names of Idols but the plain Fields had no such prejudicate opinion against a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Upon their pleasant fruitfulness the happy news are showred down as if the dawning of this bright day should change all the Earth into another Paradise Mystically thus much may be collected as all increase and abundance wherewith we are fed is brought out of the field so the Incarnation of Christ should fill the world with the plenty and abundance of Salvation I will not say according to the Letter of the Miracle in the Gospel that the fishermen laboured hard all night and took nothing so in the darkness of the Law which may not unfitly be called the night nothing at all was taken yes there was a number of those that believed but a very small one here a berry and there a berry says the Prophet upon the top of a bow The Pharisees compassed Sea and Land to gain one Proselyte and scarce glean'd up one in all their travel but since the Church writes it self not Jew but Christian Since the day spring from on high hath visited us the number of the fishes is so great which the Apostles drew into the Ship that the nets were ready to break because of the multitude As the Widows oyl fill'd every vessel which she could borrow of her neighbours so the faith of our Redeemer hath fill'd all Nations in the world As Job said by Allegory Petra mihi effundit rivos olei Rivers of oyl trickled down from the rock and the rock was Christ During the time of Moses Law what a paucity there was of those that spent their industry to interpret the Canon of the Scriptures How few are reckoned that shed their bloud for the maintenance of the truth Not any almost that made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven many Ages yielded small store of Saints But see what the Gospel hath brought forth like a fruiful field many Penmen of holy Writings many Virgins unspotted touching the flesh thousand thousands of Martyrs They that have gone about to cast up the number think that as many have lost their lives for the profession of righteousness in the time of the Gospel as there were beasts in the old Law slain for Sacrifice before the Altar Et nunc omnis ager nunc omnis parturit arbor Now the trees of the Lord are full of sap now the Temples of the Lord are throng'd with those that believe as the fields stand thick with Corn in Harvest This is the good will of him that was born in Bethlem prefigured to give increase and abundance because the Angel did annunciate him in the fields where fruit grows up for the use of man The errors of men are captious and catch at any occasion to argue for their own defence and why may not this Text be distorted by some to prove that fields and desarts are fit receptacles for Congregations of Christians But for Churches and Chappels they may be demolished or else neglected It was an Heresie of the Massilians as Damascen oserved that God might be worshipt as well in the Woods or vast Mountains in any place unhallowed as in those Oratories that are dedicated to his honour I would they had left none of their brood behind them but the first broacher of that corrupt Doctrine as I have told you once before in my conceit was Jeroboam for he made a rent in the Kingdom of Israel alienating ten Tribes from their Allegiance due to their lawful Prince Rehoboam But one thing troubled him that according to the Law all the Tribes must go up once a year to worship at Hierusalem which was the imperial City of the King of Judah This was it that cut the very nerves of his conspiracy
hour the heart of man is cast down and presageth some evil to come when God and his Angels appear though they entreat us peaceably The main reason is this Ne dignam suis meritis accipiant retributionem our own sins rise up against us as unanswerable accusers and we ominate and conjecture that God appears for nothing but to judge and condemn us When God and his Angels presented themselves to Jacob in a dream he breaks out into these words Gen. 28.27 How dreadful is this place this is no other but the gate of heaven Peace Jacob why doest thou not cry out how comfortable is this place this is no other but the gate of Heaven but it 's certain that the very comfort of heaven was dreadful and unpleasant to men in the Old Testament and our nature is still corrupted the vessel is still unclean that receives these blessings and therefore we are afraid of the great mercies of the Lord as well as of the great punishments Alas O Lord for I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face says Gideon and yet for all that fear Gideon is named a mighty man of valour Manoah the sire of that race from which Sampson came the very name of valour yet he said to his Wife We shall surely dye because we have seen the Lord. The charitable widow of Sarepta was no less afraid of Elias an extraordinary Prophet Art thou come to slay my son and to call my sins to remembrance finally Peter drawing a miraculous draught of fish into the Ship as Christ bad him cast out the net thought of nothing but his own sins and Gods vengeance Depart from me Lord for I am a sinful man But here 's a messenger in my Text that bids the Shepherds cashiere all these affrightments neither to be dismay'd at the light that shin'd about them nor yet that God was in the glory of that light First Not to be troubled at the light for it was to make this doctrine manifest as if it had been written with a beam of the Sun that Christ is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world And why says Bernard did God ordain that light should be instead of John the Baptist to usher Christ into the world when he was born but because he would illuminate him without Qui interioribus ignorantiae tenebris obducitur who was overcast with darkness within In him was life and that life was the light of men John 1.4 Quae necdum infundi poterat at divina saltem circumfunditur claritas as the light was but spread about their bodies here so it was a sign that if they would believe in him that was come to be the Messias and to save them from their sins their whole bodies should be transform'd into bodies of light hereafter in the Kingdom of Heaven And as every living thing rejoyceth when the night is past and the Sun appears upon the earth so they and we have cause to rejoyce that the night of Ceremonies pass'd away and the clear evidence of truth did shine abroad Vnto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise Mal. 4.2 Therefore according to Bernards elegancy this is the Angels fear not drawn out at large timetis phantasma en adest veritas You are afraid of some spectrum or vision fear not behold we come with the evidence of truth You suspect this is the lightning that goes before a thunder-clap No no it betokens there is a light risen into the world which is the comfortable light of men You suspect death but I annuntiate life You fear the gates of Hell but the Heavens are opened and God is come down among you You conjecture some perdition but behold I preach a Saviour that shall save you from your sins This is the meaning of the light which did dance at Midnight about the air when Jesus was born and the Angel said to them that trembled at the Vision fear it not But what if God himself were in that light What if it were a fiery Apparition darted from the presence of his Majesty Why yet Nolite timere Fear it not Once it pleased our heavenly Father to keep a distance with man upon these terms no man hath seen God at any time and lived Now the day is come when you shall see he communicates himself more friendly to dust and ashes so St. John begins his Epistle That which was from the beginning yet we have seen it with our eyes we have looked upon it and our hands have handled the Word of life It is not from henceforth since Christ was born as it was with the Bethshemites that lookt into the Ark which represented the glory of God and died for it Now no man hath so much cause to fear his indignation as he that shuns his presence and fears lest the Lord should appear before him How did St. Stephen exult when he saw the heavens opened and Christ Jesus standing at the right hand of God Do you think the Martyr was amazed to see the sight No my Beloved ever since the Son of God vouchsafed to take flesh in the womb of Mary it is not a sign of death to see any part of Gods glory but a good ominous presage of everlasting life Therefore be it that God was in the light which shin'd about the Shepherds yet all is well says the Angel Nolite timere Fear it not Secondly They must take courage and not be troubled à propriâ indignitate because of their own unworthiness Indeed what might they think within themselves that they were vouchsafed to hear the first Proclamation of this Blessed Nativity To us these Congratulations To us poor Swains this heavenly Embassage To us miserable Shepherds these Tidings who are set with the Dogs of the Flock Tell them to Caesar or to Herod his Lieutenant or to the chief Priest Non nobis Domine non nobis We are most desertless Wretches and why should God bestow such a royal favour upon us Do you remember Beloved how Peter drew our Saviour near unto him by crying out Depart from me for I am a sinful man O Lord Luk. v. 8. The more he requested him to be gone the more Christ did abide with Peter so by how much the Shepherds did abase themselves before the Angel the more did the Angel raise them up and bade them be encouraged to behold the Glory of God He that did choose little Infants to be his first Martyrs and ignorant Fishermen to be his first Apostles and Mary Magdalen a woman and a sinner to be the first Witness of his Resurrection it may appear that his grace is manifestly toward them who have a quick feeling of their own indignity The blessed Virgin when she had conceived her Son came to her Cosin Elizabeth that God might prove her lowliness and thus she exprest it Whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come unto me
Luk. i 43. Whether John Baptist learnt this humble confession of his Mother Elizabeth or whether the Mother spake it in the Spirit of her Son which was in her Womb I know not but I am sure in the like phrase of speech John gave back when Christ came near unto him I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me Indeed if none had adjoyn'd themselves to our Saviours company but such as had deserved it they should have done like the Jews Joh. viii 9. all men convicted by their own conscience for their unworthiness should forsake him one by one and leave Jesus alone See how God brings Light out of Darkness the best encouragement of a dastard fearfulness the comfort of these poor men was that they saw nothing in themselves to comfort them and their reward was great because they knew they did not deserve it We use to say that no man is the nearer to death because he makes his Will and bequeaths his body to the earth So no man is the further from heaven because he doth heartily confess himself a miserable sinner that deserves the condemnation of Hell-fire If that will please the Lord as sure it will better than any burnt Sacrifice who will not say with David Adhuc ero vilior I will yet be more vile than thus and I will be base in my own sight This day is a very Catechism of humility ask me any question about a lowly and an humble mind and I will shew how this day shall answer it Suppose it were demanded what is humility I would say a conformity to the likeness of Christ incarnate Vt videret homo quem sequeretur Deus factus est homo Few ensamples of that vertue upon earth therefore that man might see whom to follow God was made man But proceed we in Interrogatories Is not perfect humility abhorrent from the Pomp of the World Yes so was our Saviour who was born without the Pride and Riches of Magnificence Will it display it self in vain attire No he was wrapt in swadling clouts Is it t◠be found ordinarily in stately Mansions and Kings Houses No he was laid in a Manger Doth it thirst after the applause of the World No upon his first manifestation he was made known to the meanest Shepherds in the field Did he seek his own praise No the Carol of his Nativity was Glory be to God on high Did he molest and trouble others Was he disdainful as proud men use to be No the other part of the ditty speaks him otherwise Peace on earth and good will towards men May a mirable abject Wretch dare to encounter his dreadful Messengers Yes with a gladsom courage it will be an advantage to their lowly mind that they are guilty of their own indignity Nolite timere fear it not The third thing which makes every joynt of an humble sinner to quake is Legis maledictio the Curse of the Law and unless that be strucken off we shall fear though all the Angels of Heaven sang Halelujah and bade us be chearful but this is the greatest piece of alacrity which the birth of Jesus brings with it that it bids us not to fear the Curse of the Law With this parcel of comfort St. Paul supplies that which is strictly wound up in the Angels Message God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law Gal. iv 5. Yet in a more emphatical Phrase Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us First St. Hierom observes upon it he was factus non natus not born but made a Curse For two things are to be considered in the Manhood of Christ Both that he was an immaculate Lamb full of grace and truth and so he was born in the blessing and favour of his Father This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. iii. And also that he took our person and our guilt upon him and so the maledictions due to all Mankind were translated upon him This was the Scape-goat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that carried away the malediction of our sins into the Wilderness that we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life 2. He was not made maledictus but maledictum not accursed but a curse for us Some expound it by an Hyperbole that he took upon him maledictionis cumulum the whole mass of accursedness but I like it better to be interpreted a Metonymy semblably to that Text 2 Cor. v. 21. God made him that is his Son to be sin for us Peccatum non peccatorem not a sinner but a Sacrifice for sin so he was not accursed but for our sakes made a Sacrifice of malediction 3. It is remarkable that it is said Factus est maledictio pro nobis not nobiscum It is one thing to be a debtor for debtors another thing to be a debtor with debtors No part of his own debt was in the debt which he paid but it was for us men and for our salvation O miserable condition of mankind but for this most merciful ransom As many as are of the works of the Law are under the Curse and as many as break the Law are under the Curse How could we be exempted I do not say from common but even from desperate fear unless the Angel had said Fear not here is a Propitiation for your sins Will you please to attend how Christ was made somewhat for our sakes very differently four manner of ways 1. Factus est aliquid pro nobis nobiscum He was made somewhat for us and with us also So this day he was made man for our sakes and we are also men as he was the Children have partaked of flesh and bloud 2. Factus est aliquid pro nobis non nobiscum He was made somewhat for us but not like as we are he was made sin for our sakes but not sinful as we are him that knew no sin God made sin for our sakes 3. Factus est pro nobis non quod sumus sed esse debemus He was that for us which we cannot be now but that which we shall be hereafter For us he rose from the dead ascended up to Heaven is glorified with Angels was made obedient to his Father in all things and we have confidence in Christ that such we shall be these things he was made that we might be the righteousness of God in him 4. Factus est pro nobis quod nunquam erimus He was made that for us which is proper to his own Royalty and which we shall never be So he was made our High Priest our Mediator our Redeemer our Sacrifice to make attonement for our sins but factus pro nobis that he was made for us is the base and ground of all there began the death of sin by the
with us than against us Our friends do exceed the number of our enemies therefore we may be couragious Besides the name of Gabriel supposed to be that Messenger that came to the Shepherds his name by interpretation is Fortitudo Domini the strength of God as if he were a great Bulwark on our side Quoniam bellum indictum est Daemonibus upon Christmas day began open hostility against the Devil therefore it is a good Omen a blessed presage that the trumpet of Gabriel blew these tidings abroad who is fortitudo Domini a valiant Prince such a one as Michael was that conquered the Dragon as his name is so is himself the strength of God Finally we may be sure that what he said to encourage us was solid comfort without flattery no false alarm no smoother of sweet words where there is no cause for there are Mountebanks in Divinity that will promise many sorts of remedies to a sin-sick soul where there is none at all As Jeremy describes those false blandishing Prophets They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly saying peace peace when there is no peace Slightly or verbis leviculis says Vatablus with gibing frumps 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read the Septuagint scornful despising them whom they seduced with lying hopes Periculosiora sunt animae secura quà m corpori adversa says St. Austin security is more perillous to the soul than affliction to the body But such messengers as my Text speaks of cannot publish a falshood because they are ever enlightned with the spirit of truth we may build upon a rock of confidence if they say Nolite timere fear not One touch more and this Point is done You hear that the Tongues of Angels are chearful comfortable Tongues their tidings are no flattery yet they are words of mirth and gladness Then it were good me thinks that discretion and the consideration of Christs merciful Gospel did mitigate their zeal who think they are bound to thunder nothing so much to the people as fears and terrors like the writer of Iambiques that spote anger and poyson to put Archilochus into desperation Let Vices be threatned but let the hope that accompanies true repentance go together Let Judgment be put home to the obdurate conscience but let Mercy be an Advocate for the broken in heart Let the strictness of Law and the Curse thereof fetch a tear from our eyes but let the ransom of our sins be set before us and that Christ will wipe all tears from our eyes St. Paul wisht himself at Corinth not to affright them but to rejoyce with the Brethren as it was said of the mild nature of the Emperour Vespasian Neminem unquam dimisit tristem he never sent any man from him discontent but gave him some comfort and satisfaction So the Gospel is such a sweet demulcing Lesson that if it be truly preach'd it must always revive the heart it cannot leave a sting behind it You see the Angel delights not to scare but to comfort the Shepherds Fear not I shall lead your patience no further than one thing more why they should not fear Propter nuntiatum that 's the most principal regard because Christ was born to be their comfort This is to be descanted at large hereafter upon the remainder of this Text and for the present I will prevent what I shall say hereafter but with this one observation that concerning all such as are terrified and perplex'd in mind we can do no more than the Angel hath done preach Christ unto them for their comfort if the joy of his Nativity will not allay their disconsolate melancholy desperation then there is no Balm in Gilead to help them that 's all the infusion of solace which the Angel did pour into the world when it was cast down with sin Poor soul that art terrified with a condemning conscience tell me to what end was Christ born but to seek and to save them that were lost Was not he partaker of flesh and bloud as thou art And dost thou surmise that he made any for condemnation whose nature he took upon him unless by their own infidelity they make themselves reprobates Did he come among us to bring great joy unto all people And wilt thou thrust thy self out of the number Did not he weep in his Cratch that thou mightest sing in heaven Did not he fly from Herod that thou mightest fly from Satan Was not he brought forth amongst us in great humility and misery that thou mightest be translated out of misery into glory Be not like Rachel that would not be comforted Fear not little flock it is your Fathers pleasure to give you a Kingdom Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifieth who shall condemn us It is Christ that was born and died and rose again to deliver us from all evil it is he that was made man that thou mightest be made a glorious Saint a fellow Citizen with Angels AMEN THE FIFTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION LUKE ii 10. Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people IN the same Text where we ended the old year let us begin the new Jesus Christ last year and this year and the same for ever To speak of our Saviours Nativity says Bernard is as new at these days as it was in the first Twelfth-tide after he was born Semper novum est quod semper innovat mentes nec unquam vetus est quod fructificare non cessat That 's justly esteemed a new meditation which prepares us to newness of life neither can we say a tree grows old by standing long in the soil which fructifies continually as much as ever it did before In the imagination of our Faith Christ seems to be offered up again so often as we remember his Death and Passion in the Sacrament so he seems as verily to be born again so often as we do faithfully annuntiate his Incarnation Once we have done that work already in the day it self the time is not yet expired which belongs to that Solemnity now we are come once more to the same business to dispatch it that you may see the difference between the antiquation of the Old Law plucking out the sting of fear and the publication of the new Covenant the Gospel which breaths unspeakable gladness First I have preacht upon these words how we should purge out the old leaven of distrustful fear now I come to shew what it is to have a new heart created full of spiritual joy I observed unto you upon the whole verse that as much might be said from hence to extol the benefit which we receive by Christs Nativity as is usually delivered to express that everlasting felicity which we shall enjoy with God in the highest Heavens to that beatitude of the Saints say the Schoolmen very rightly two things must concur Omnis miseria excluditur omne
two observations 1. It appears in St. Matthew that the Angel called him Jesus before he was born yea before he was conceived Luke i. 31. it was Gabriels message to Mary Thou shalt conceive in thy Womb and bring forth a Son and shalt call his name Jesus Men called him so after he was born and circumcised Idem quippe Angeli salvator hominis hominis ab incarnatione Angeli ab initio creaturae for the same Lord is the Saviour both of Angels and Men of Angels before he was born from the beginning of the world of Men in the fulness of time after he was born That is the second person in Trinity being the eternal Son of the Father did confirm the good Angels in grace that they should never fall and the same person incarnate being the Mediator of God and Man did redeem the Elect that they should rise again from their sins and reign with him in glory 2. The complete imposition of the name was at his circumcision when he first shed his Blood as if his Death had been foretold as soon as he was born it would cost him blood not a few drops of the foreskin but the very blood of the heart to be called Jesus In Circumcision he was called a Saviour at his Passion the word Jesus was wrote upon the Cross then his enemies confest he was a Saviour In circumcisione non fuit actu perfecto sed destinatione salvator in Circumcision it was told by destination what he should be and incompleatly and by inchoation what he was It was a sign of servitude and of taking the guilt of sin to be Circumcised it was a sign of ignominy and reproach to be Crucified but this name exalted him and defended him against the bad opinion of the world when he was called at the one time in the Temple and entitled on the Cross at the other Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews To drive this point no longer about the honour of the imposition of the name this is the sum Angels and Men had their several shares in the dignity to give this attribute to our Lord but the name was grounded in his own nature of exceeding mercy and in his office of reconciliation therefore God alone could give him this name Innatum est ei nomen hoc non inditum ab humana aut Angelica natura says Bernard the name was bred with him and not imposed by men or Angels A name so royally impos'd must include a great deal of excellency that 's the next point Gallio the Deputy of Achaia was a great scorner of Religion and because Paul magnified Christ and the Jews blasphemed him Gallio said it was a controversie of words and names and he would not meddle with it it was not worth the while The name of Christ was beyond Gallio's reach to judge upon it David makes a great account of that which he did villifie Thou hast magnified thy name and thy word above all things Psal cxxxvii The names of God Jehovah are his names as a Creator and yet to be magnified above all things but the name of Jesus adds above his power of creation his goodness of saving and redemption Nihil nasci profuit nisi redimi profuisset it had been unbeneficial to be created unless we had been happily redeemed His Words his Actions his Miracles his Prayers his Sacraments his Sufferings all did smell of the Saviour Take him from his Infancy to his Death among his Disciples and among the Publicans among the Jews or among the Gentiles he was all Saviour The Jews were under the condition of thraldom at this time when Christ was born under the thraldom of their enemies and the tidings of a Saviour was sweet news at such a season yet the Shepherds could not so mistake that an Infant born but that day could go out with their hosts to subdue their enemies No person upon earth hath such need of a Saviour as a sinner whether it be peace or war Pandora's box of mischiefs all the miseries that can be named are the just reward of a sinner therefore the Angel doth not specifie to the Shepherds from what calamities he should redeem them and be called a Saviour indefinitely and absolutely from all A few particulars would but derogate from the honour of his salvation he sweeps away all evil at once like a Spiders web ab omni malo he saves us from the whole mass of evil a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Jer. xxiii 7. It shall no more be said the Lord Liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt but the Lord liveth which brought the house of Israel from the North Country the land of Chaldaea Alas both these are easie redemptions to that which calls him Jesus in the New Testament the Lord liveth who saveth his people from their sins there begins his mercy at that point to break the heavy yoke of sin from our necks to repress the dominion of the flesh rebelling against the spirit to take away earthly desires from our will and affections in a word to clear us in Gods Court that our iniquities may no more be imputed to us Who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood Revel i. 5. 2. He is a Saviour that delivers us from the sting and punishment of sin which is death He destroyed our death by dying on the Cross and repaired our life again by his own Resurrection 3. He is a Saviour that delivereth us from the power of Satan that although the enemy tempt and oppose vehemently yet he should not overcome his Saints Now is the judgment of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast forth John xii 32. and so cast forth that he shall never renew his tyranny again For through death Chrst did destroy him that had the power of death the Devil Heb. ii 14. 4. He is a Saviour that frees us from the wrath of God and when we were enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son Rom. v. From sin from death from Satan from the wrath of God These are the four heads of our Redemption and these are the excellencies included in the name of Saviour After these things thus declared methinks the third point should fall in directly without any contradiction Methinks of our selves without bidding men should strive to do abundant reverence at the hearing of this word a Jesus a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. We have not that feeling of our sins which we ought to have nor of the wrath of God for if we had we would hear this name with greater joyfulness but the destruction is not near enough to affect us Hell and damnation are not represented before our face if those things were so nigh that we did feel their horror we would not captiously gainsay that Ceremony of the Church to vail the head and bend the knee and to
Observation of days touching the very labour of the Cattel in the field and what not It was a burden as the Apostles testifie which neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear yet there was sweetness in all this because it was done for the Lords sake though the task had been stricter David did well set forth the condition of the Law unto what great bondage it did captivate a man in these words Behold O Lord how that I am thy servant I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid a servant in extremity of thraldom and therefore it was repeated a Servant born for partus sequitur ventrem he must needs be so that was the Son of an handmaid he was born to be circumcised and to be a debtor to the whole Law Such were all they that boasted themselves to be the only freemen in the world because they were the Sons of Abraham Nay Simeon was not only such a Servant as I have hitherto described bridled under the Pedagogy of Moses Law but out of the relative terms of my Text I will shew that he was in greater subjection and aw for how doth he call the Lord here Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Lord that had power of life and death over his Vassal you shall not find it used again in all the four Evangelists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Favorinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Lord of a bondman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a freeman that is an hired servant I have plaid the Critick enough such servants those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were anciently called so not because they were paid for their labour which they did undergo in drudgery but because they were taken by hostility and their lives were forfeited to the Conquerour who had power to slay them yet spared them and resigned them up into their hands that would lay down a ransom for them So Simeon confesseth that God had the power of life and death over him when he might have killed him out of his clemency he spared him Behold a Servant then and such as he was such were all the Jews a man under the yoke of the Law and under the power of death But behold as this day the Deliverer was born and did quite change the copy of our service Christ as God did put the Church under the servitude of the Law but being made man he hath exempted us to the liberty of the Gospel and though we shall all die through that sentence which cannot be repealed yet if we believe that he hath given himself a ransom for us and live unto righteousness we shall not die unto condemnation But that you may know what kind of servants they are that retain to that family whereof God takes the care and administration mind the character of Simeon which the Holy Ghost gives him in the verses preceding my Text for his Calling it is obscurely past over thus there was a man in Jerusalem Galatinus says out of the Rabbins that one Simeon the just was the Master of the great Doctor Gamaliel and that may very well light upon this Simeon Much hath been urged to prove him to be a Priest but to no purpose Salmeron and Tolet alledge that when a child came to be presented to the Lord the Priest took the child out of the arms of his Mother and did not restore him again till he was redeemed for five Shekles of Silver according to the Law Num. xviii but how will they prove that a Child might not light into the arms of some other incidentally as well as into the arms of the Priest Yea but Simeon blessed Joseph and Mary ver 34. that is a Sacerdotal action Nay not always old Jacob blessed Pharaoh and every Prophet is an instrument of Benediction At the last heave says Tolet it is an old tradition of the Church to paint him in a Priestly Vesture an hard refuge when they refer us for a proof to Pictures and not to the Word of God Whether the Priesthood or the Layty may challenge him for theirs I know not one thing I know that he was a just man and waited for the consolation of Israel a pious holy Father a frequenter of the Temple a man uncompounded with the world but this was his righteousness that he lookt for the blessed off-spring God and man whom the Lord would send to redeem his Saints You will say perhaps did not all the Jews expect the Messias What did he more than other men Why herein he did exceed them that they did not look for such benefits from the Messias as Simeon did such spiritual refreshment for the soul and for the spirit Then the common sort of people lookt for Christ afar off he lookt for him just at that time near at hand As Joseph of Arimathea is said to look for the Kingdom of God that is to see Christ incarnate even then in the fulness of time Luke xxiii 51. Again others waited for Christ but carelesly without any earnest affection Simeon even languisht with longing and did passionately desire it St. Austin says that he did continually pray for the coming of Christ and often repeated that of David Psal lxxxv Shew us thy mercy O Lord and grant us thy salvation and then God answered him that he would fulfill his hearts desire Nicephorus tells us a vagrant story that Simeon was reading those words Isa vii Behold a Virgin shall conceive a Son and being sollicitous what that place should mean an Angel appeared and told him he should not die till he had seen that Babe with his eyes of whom Isaiah Prophesied This is certain the Holy Ghost had given him some great assurance of it The Spirit was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ver 25. not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only in him but upon him which signifies extraordinary assistance as when it is said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me Isa lxi You see now with what endowments of heavenly graces Simeon was enricht before he called himself the servant of the Lord. His modesty would give himself no better title yet our Saviour speaks better things of those that believed Henceforth I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth but I have called you friends c. Joh. xv 15. It is not the meaning that we shall ever out-grow the name of servant for even at the day of judgment in the time of our reward it shall be said Well done good and faithful servant But here it is we are all servants by debt and nature the Gospel stiles us friends by Covenant and Composition Before Christ was revealed God dealt with them of the Synagogue as with servants he did not reveal the mysteries of the Trinity of the Incarnation of the coming of the Holy Ghost if he did reveal them to the Prophets it was ex privilegio not ratione status it was by
is able to make use of any of his Creatures as well as of the tongue of man to set forth his glory The Synagogue of the Jews was wont to have Prophets to teach them but there was not a Prophet more heard in their Land from Malachi to John the Baptist in five hundred years What skills it The Lord can make a Prophet out of any thing in the world Cessante linguâ Prophetarum Deus loquutus est per stellâ—s When Prophesies do fail in the Tongues of men the Stars of heaven shall Prophesie Secondly The Children of Israel as I have noted it before had a Pillar of safe conduct to go before their Army they were an innumerable multitude of people and had need of a fair mark to look upon why then at least it were requisite that these few Magi should have a little Star to grace their journey from the East to Jerusalem Surely the heavens would be as benign to set out the glory of the New Testament as to set out the glory of the Law and the dignity of Christ doth exceed the dignity of Moses as much as an heavenly Star doth exceed a Cloud which is but a vapour nay there are more odds in the comparison Thirdly it was expedient that his Nativity and coming into the world should be attended with great light as his Death and going out of the world brought darkness upon the face of the earth Novam stellam declaravit natus qui antiquum solem obscuravit occisus says St. Austin The true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world was pointed at by a miraculous light when he came into the world and so much or rather so little what aptitude there was in this Star to bring the Magi to our Saviour There are some scruples likewise upon the fourth Question why it is appropriatively called his Star For we have seen his Star in the East The Priscillianists with as much dotage as heresie call'd it the Star of Christ because this Star had some dominion over his Geniture for they speak in the Phrase of judicial Astrologers that impute the actions and events of a mans life to the Horoscope of the Zodiack or Planet under which he was born Vain Philosophy but more vain Divinity Vain Philosophy and very strange it is that it should have any credit to this day after it hath been found out false in so many thousand Prognostications If they happen to foretell one thing right they make ostentation of it before all the world which was mere accident and no cunning but their mistakes and errors are at least a thousand to one true Prediction How often says Tully have I heard those Chaldeans promise long life and prosperous death to Caesar Crassus and Pompey and many others whose ends have been lamentable Therefore he concludes with Panaetius the Stoick that all Astrology is vain when it comes to Prediction Why should not the Stars be as full of influence and vertue over any part of mans life as over his birth-hour And why not much rather over the first minute of conception which no man can guess at than over the first minute of our birth Certainly the contagion of the heavens or temperament of the Stars is nothing to that hour for we see the Child for the most part follow the complexion and condition of the Parents and many by Art and Industry rid themselves of those imperfections wherewith they were born What moment of day or night wherein many Infants are not brought forth into the world some did hap to be born at the same moment with the renowned Affricanus but says the Orator Nunquis talis fuit Was there ever such another Scipio for all the nativivity of some hapned in the same moment Nothing more deceitful more offensive in curiosity more unjudicious than that which is called Judicial Astrologie St. Austin professeth that he excluded out of the Church one of those that would set down the fate of mens lives as they called it by the Conjunction of Stars either raigning at their birth or some other time of their life and would not admit him into the society of Christ again without publick and solemn repentance But the Divinity of the Priscillianists was far more corrupt than their Philosophy that delivered blasphemy to their Disciples saying this Star is called Christs because it had dominion in his Nativity Whereas Christs Nativity depended not on the Star but the Star on Christs Nativity It did not only serve Christ but it served his servants For the Israelites removed from place to place as the Cloud did give the sign but this Star removed from place to place as the Wise-men had occasion for their journey Non stella fatum pueri sed is qui apparuit fatum stellae fuit says Gregory The Star was not the Fate of the Child but this Child was the Fate of that Star The motion of that bright Creature did not move him but he ordained the motion of it And the Wise-men knew him hereby to be the King of heaven because the lights of heaven or this light as good as they did serve and obey him Chrysologus his elegancy must not be forgotten Stella haec ministra viae non vitae non dominantis Domina sed ancilla servorum This Star had no influence upon the life of the Child but was a Lanthorn to the paths of the Wise-men It was not a Lord over our Master but a Minister to our Masters Servants the coronis of the point shall be St. Austins words Non ad decretum dominabatur sed ad testimonium famulabatur The Star which they saw had no regency over him they sought but it was a testimony that he whom they sought was Christ the Lord. St. Chrysostom argues upon it the Magi knew no more from the Star but that the King of the Jews was born 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. but that is not the profession of an Astronomer to know who is born but what things shall come to pass hereafter upon the Nativity of them that are born So having cleared that Question from the authority and reasons of those grave Writers the fifth observation upon the Star is positively thus to be set down that there was a secret illumination an invisible but a better Star than this which made the Magi true believers Some who were mentioned before did see the assistance of the Holy Ghost so manifestly in the direction of this journey that they profess'd it their opinion how the Holy Ghost appeared now in the form of this Star as once after he manifested Christ in the shape of a Dove There is a day Star which riseth in our hearts says the Apostle 2 Pet. i. 19. It was an influence into the heart and not an object in the eye which made the Wise-men dispatch this journey to come and worship Christ Cathedram habet in coelo qui corda docet his Cathedral
eldest Fathers that some may go out of the world without this Sacrament by unavoidable necessity and their faith shall suffice to save them as if they had been baptized his saying is very memorable Sola interdum sides sufficit ad salutem fine ipsâ nihil sufficit Sometimes faith alone is enough to bring salvation to a man and without it nothing is enough Valentinian the Emperour having given battel to the Sarmatians and other Scythian Rebels broke a vein with out-cries to his Captains and eager encouragement to his Souldiers and soon after died in his Tent unbaptized yet St. Ambrose comforts his Subjects in a Funeral Oration that their Emperours soul was with God because his life was religious and his heart desired the benediction of that Sacrament St. Austin enrolls all Martyrs in the Catalogue of the Saints of heaven albeit Persecution snatcht them away suddenly before they could be baptized And that God will remit their sins who lay down their lives for his sake Quantùm si sacro fonte abluerentur as if they had been washed at the sacred Font. Why this was well and charitably concluded not as if Martyrdom did equal the vertue of Baptism but because it was joyned with an eminent faith Now God may see as much faith in one dying as if he were to suffer Martyrdom Fides idonea martyrio licet non interrogata martyrio says Bernard Therefore that faith shall stand them in as much stead as if they had actually been brought to Martyrdom Finally Whereas John Baptist may seem to desire this Sacrament in my Text saying I have need to be baptized it appears not whatsoever some Apocryphal Stories say that Christ did baptize him in water but the Learned say the willingness of this confession and his Martydom which he suffered under Herod did supply the want thereof and his faith did save him A fourth Proposition follows that we have good reason to hope for the salvation of such Infants being born within a believing Church as were deprived of life before the outward Element could conveniently be applied unto them to wash them from their sins because some have gone too far in doubting against this take my reasons in order First It is never questioned in the old Law but that the Male children of the Jews were blessed in the Lord which died before the eighth day having not received the Seal of Circumcision I will not urge that Circumcision was omitted for forty years all the while they travelled in the Wilderness it was with Gods especial dispensation so that no detriment redounded to any soul because of Circumcision I instance in Davids child the first he begat of Bathsheba it died the seventh day and yet the King who doubted not to enjoy the Crown of a better life comforts himself and expects that his soul should rest with the Child after death I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Secondly We have no Promise for the Seed of Infidels but we have express testimony from the Spirit that the Seed of faithful Parentage is holy from the birth and if the root be holy so are the branches Rom. xi 16. Nay albeit one Parent be an unbeliever yet if either Father or Mother make but one believer the Children are sanctified and for that ones sake they are not unclean but holy It is true that we are all in our selves born children of wrath from our Mothers womb But God is gracious to the thousand Generations of them that fear him much more to their very next Generation and because their Infants are his Childrens Children the guilt of their sin is blotted out and he is pleased to give them adoption of Sons What else is the fruit of that Promise that the off-spring of the Faithful are in the same Covenant with the Fathers The Promise is made to you and to your Sons and to them that are far off Acts ii 39. The constancy of the eternal Covenant made to the Posterity of the Just appeared says one in those extraordinary motions of Jacob when he wrestled with Esa◠of John Baptist when he congratulated the coming of Christ into the world the spiritual extasies of both these before they were born Therefore it is no unjudicious opinion to say that Infants are brought to Baptism not to take them into the Covenant of Grace but being of the Covenant before to seal it unto them If any man make a Scruple whether the Covenant be made to the Infants of Christian Parents as fast and firm as to the Jews and their Children let him not doubt nay assuredly the Covenant is made unto us much stronger For Christ came into the World to confirm the Promise made from the beginning of the World and to turn over Gods mercies in a more ample manner unto the Gentiles Of his fulness we have received and grace for grace that is to say plenty of grace and benediction This was the second Reason thus I propound the third I have formerly proved and delivered this Doctrine that to such of riper years as desired Baptism and were unawares prevented the willingness of their faith was reputed to them for Baptism Why this shall also comfort us for the tender fruit of the womb which died without the Sacrament as soon as it yaun'd the first breath for when they are baptized the faith of the Church and of those that present them at the Font is by God reputed to be their own So if they be cut short before they be outwardly ingrafted into the Congregation of Christ the willingness and desire of the same Church and of their Parents shall be imputed by our merciful Father to be theirs also Lastly I will pawn the practice of the best Churches in the world to prove it when they were in their ancient purity It was a Ceremony both among the Greeks and Latines to appoint but two solemn times of the year for the Baptism of Infants Easter and Whitsontide Indeed leave was given to dispense with this Ceremony if Passengers unbaptized were like to be cast away at Sea If War Pestilence or Persecutipn threatned their imminent ruine if Infants did dangerously languish But I pray you how often do Infants die away in the turning of an hand before it can be perceived Therefore the Sacrament had not been deferred unto those two solemn times if either Greeks or Latines had thought that Infants deprived of the Laver of Regeneration should eternally be deprived of the glory of God The fifth Proposition dispatcheth the long discourse upon this Point It is thus We are to hope well of the safety of Infants not baptized yet we cannot be so confident of their welfare as when the Church hath prai'd for them and given them the blessing of the Sacrament Let the worst come that our children pass'd away without the sprinkling of water it is fit to be prevented in a due course as much as may
Prophet by prostrating himself did bring life again into that which was dead so Jesus by making himself an ignominious reproach to the world did justifie and acquit those who were appointed to everlasting death Thus you see why our Saviours answer strikes upon the circumstance of that present time Suffer it to be so now He came in the form of a Servant and as long as he emptied himself in that shape he would do the duties of a Servant Sine modo now I will be baptized of thee in water hereafter I will baptize my Church with the Holy Ghost and with fire As yet I stand for one of the multitude as yet the Holy Spirit hath not descended upon me to make me manifest to the world that I am the Son of God therefore suffer it to be so now Mark I beseech you how in the lowest depression of a servant he keeps the Majesty of a Lord For he makes himself a servant by his own command Sic volo sic jubeo it is my own pleasure to make my self a worm and no man yea a very scorn and derision of them that are round about me As Cesar did not lessen his own dignity because he would both command as General and yet work in the trenches like the meanest Pioneer Dux consilio miles exemplo and as Helen the Mother of Constantine was not under the honour of a Princess because she would dress the Blains and Ulcers of poor Cripples in the Hospital So the mighty Son of God was not diminished in his glory because he put himself into the rank of abject ones by his own yielding and accord not by compulsive necessity His obedience did not spring from any legal servitude as one whose Parents did beget him in bondage nor from any penal servitude as one that was enthralled by trespasses or violent captivity But he did put his neck into the yoke and did appoint himself certain years of misery and abasement therefore he lays his authority upon the Prophet that it should be so Suffer it to be so now And is not this example worth the learning That God is better served by him that hath a yielding spirit and will stoop in humility than by him that is stiff to maintain the honour of his person and will not condescend for the advantage of much good from his place and dignity You shall have them that will defend Augustine the Monk that would neither veile his head nor bend his knee to the Brittish Monks of this Island that were met to receive him Forsooth such courtesie did not become him because he was the Nuncio of the Apostolical See There was a great Clerk that bolstered up the fiery humour of Pope Paul the Fifth in the Venetian quarrel and bad him keep his dignity inviolable whatsoever became of peace with this Text to enflame him Arise Peter kill and eate O if there be any such evil Monitor that provokes you to stiffness and stubborness by the consideration of your Greatness and Principality answer him with our Saviour Sine modò frater whatsoever I be in pre-eminence of honour let me forget it now many things unworthy our person must be swallowed up for the glory of God When Shimei reviled David Abishai would have had his head for it suffer it to be so now says David though he were the King of Israel I must pass it over without revenge it is the Lord that will afflict me There are such as will blow coals especially to incense great men if their inferiours chance to trespass Are you not noble Of ample fortunes Of great power and reputation And will you not crush an underling that affronts you But such injuries as your bloud could not put up your office which you sustain must remit that you are members of Christ linkt together in love which is the bond of perfection Christs Office of Mediatorship made him be contented with those abasements which where far unworthy of his Majestical person But suffer it to be so now c. This Point which I have latest handled was the strict command of Christ over John Baptist as his Lord in that which follows as a Preceptor he teacheth his Disciple and gives him reason that he might know upon what ground he must obey Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness in which reason so many words so many notations six in all which will require discussion 1. What signification the word righteousness hath 2. What is required to fulfil it 3. How it was fulfilled in this Baptism for our Saviour hath put an Emphasis upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus I must fulfil it 4. How it can be said that the coming to Johns Baptism was the fulfilling of all righteousness 5. Why the Proposition speaks of more than one of us in the Plural 6. That Christ did fulfil all righteousness at this time not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a strict necessary rigour but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for decency sake because it did become him So you see every word is ponderous and observable Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness Of these as the scantling of the time will permit The significations of the word righteousness or justice are four First It is the name of all vertue taken in the lump where none is wanting So did the Philosopher state it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justice is not a part or a fragment of Vertue but the whole continent of it And so it is to be found in God only and in no other Creature And thus our Saviour did fulfil all righteousness because we had fulfilled all manner of wickedness And so St. Chrysostom understands this place that to make our peace with God Christ was tied to the exact performance of all the Commandments Secondly Justice is one particular branch of Vertue which is thus defined Constans perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique tribuendi A constant and perpetual resolution to give every man his own And St. Paul puts it in one Precept Rom. xiii 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Render therefore to all men their dues And Christ was most respectful to see that every one had their own both in heaven and earth according to that most admirable principle Give unto Cesar that which is Cesars and to God that which is Gods Thirdly Justice is taken for faithfulness in our word and being exactly true in our promises and certainly lying is a fraudulency most opposite to Justice Thus did our Saviour shine in righteousnes full of grace were his lips neither was any guile found in his mouth Yea let God be true says the Apostle and every man a liar that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and overcome when thou art judged Rom. iii. 4. Fourthly Righteousness doth many times very properly signifie that integrity which is found in a man according to that special Office which he sustains There is a particular Justice belonging to every state and condition of
of Adam the Sacrament of waters had not been ordained as if we were refined with Fullers Sope. There are but two Baptisms spoke of in the New Testament the one of Water the other of Fire and both are put together for the use of our impurities that all defilement may be driven out Molliora per aquam duriora metalla igne expurgantur If there be spots in Linnen or in any thing that is soft and supple we take them out in water if it be dross in stubborn Metals we decoct it and scum it off in a furnace of fire So our nature is most soft and supple to contract every kind of iniquity as easily as a cloath is stain'd And our heart is hard like iron stubborn and refractory to forsake iniquity therefore God applies Water and Fire to purge us to the bottom Water in the outward Laver Fire in the inward Spirit so by Christs humility who vouchsafed to dip himself in such water as we do he merited of his Father that we should be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire Non mundari voluit sed mundare Jordanem says St. Ambrose he came not to be cleansed but to cleanse the River Jordan and all other waters for the mystical washing away of sin Unus mersit sed lavit omnes unus descendit ut ascenderemus omnes One Jesus dived into the River that we might all rise up from the death of sin one man descended into the Pool in great humility that we might all ascend up into glory Therefore if any man ask why he that was whole in every part would step into Bethesda as if he were diseased why the immaculate Son of God would wash with sinners Let him take this answer That he was brought to Baptism even as the Spirit came down upon him anon after from heaven in the shape of a Dove It was not for want of the Spirit before or that any thing could be added to that plentiful grace which did inhabit in him but to call for the Holy Ghost that it might rest upon his Church So it was not for want of cleanness that he suffered such a Ceremony at Jordan to be done unto him as belongs to them that are impure but to make the Sacrament vertuous and powerful for them that should take it after him Pro nobis Christus lavit imò nos in corpore suo lavit all our defilements if we repent and believe are wash'd away upon his body There were certain legal cleansings with water in the Statutes of Moses Figures of things to come and ordained to satisfie for pollutions that hapned through chance and ignorance but Christ submitted himself to the Ordinance of the New Testament and avoided them For 1. They were Figures what should he do with such things that was the very truth 2. They appertained to the polluted What reference could they have to him that is immaculate 3. They were appointed for trespasses of ignorance What application could they have to him who knows all things in heaven and earth and under the earth And lest he should be mistaken for one in the rank of sinful men as if he came to be baptized for the same end that we do John pronounceth him holy after the strictest manner in another Gospel not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom behold him that is without sin but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behold him that taketh away the sin of the whole world his soul must needs consist of nothing but untainted righteousness He did communicate in his Last Supper with his Disciples and this was his difference from them he took the Bread when he had blessed it Ad spirituale solatium non ad augmentum gratiae not to augment grace and charity as we do but for the delight of his Spirit So it delighted him to sanctifie the waters of our new Birth to the washing away of our sins Vnde ista vertus aquae St. Austin speaks like one astonisht Whence comes it that the poor Element toucheth the skin and mundifieth the heart But even from him whose hem of his garment an impotent woman took in her hand and Christ perceived that vertue was gone out of him and as you must not conceive any Physical inherent vertue was in his cloaths to stop an issue of bloud as there is in some stones and herbs which in their substance are medicinal so you must not mistake as if Christ had sanctified all Rivers that a strange hidden vertue is infused into such water as is blessed to baptize whereby ex opere operato by the meer aspersion the soul should become unpolluted but by this act of our Saviours it was ordained and instituted to be the matter of that Sacrament which should sanctifie the Children of God Neither doth the Doctrine of this reason stretch so far as if God could not have caused Jordan and all other Fountains to take away pollution though Christ had never been washed in his own Person for that immortal Laver is the medicine of our souls because the vertue of the Holy Ghost is upon it Spiritus novit locum suum as many of the Fathers when the world was first made the Spirit moved upon the waters and he keeps the same place in our New Birth when we are made again children I mean by adoption and grace and so far of the second reason Thirdly It appears from hence what the Prophet Isaiah foretold Chap. liii 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all because he hath received our sins upon him and offered himself as bail for us to his Father to discharge us from malediction therefore he was baptized in the form of a sinner and was reckoned among those that had need to be wash'd for their sins In all things it behov'd him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and a faithful High Priest Heb. ii 17. Nazianzen makes all things consist in these three Points man may be said to be born thrice 1. A miserable Infant from his mothers womb 2. He is regenerate and born again by water and the holy Spirit 3. He is brought to life again at the last day when the Grave shall give up the dead in every one of these Christ was made like unto man by his Nativity by his Baptism by his Resurrection But to be made like unto us in Baptism was more against his dignity than both the rest in some comparisons His Mother brought him forth indeed in the form of a poor helpless Infant yet you will grant that to be an Infant is the order of nature and not a misery He did overcome death at his Resurrection nothing was ever done more triumphantly he did overcome such enemies which to that time had been unvanquishable but he came to Baptism in the person of many sinners that as he had honoured our nature in his Birth so he might purifie it in Baptism to be made sin
for us and by imputation to bear our iniquities is part of those unknown torments of our Saviour which cannot be uttered Christo innocentissimo maxima fuit crux tradi iniquitati says one it was not such a sorrow to Christ to be delivered up to Caiaphas to Pilate to the Souldiers to the Cross as to be bound over to carry the mass of all our sins upon his shoulders Who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the Cross 1 Pet. ii 17. Moriar prae amore amoris tui Domine O let me die for love of that great love of thine O Lord as one cries out upon it There are three things miserable and afflictive in the nature of man and that our Elder Brother Christ Jesus might be like unto his Brethren in all things he did in some manner undergo them all The first are taedia naturae the tedious and irksom difficulties of nature as hunger thirst weariness sharp punishments and fetters there was never any Martyr better acquainted with these than our blessed Lord. The second are languores naturae the diseases and defects of nature but these belong not to mankind in general but are personal mishaps for this and other reasons our Saviour was clear of them yet he did bear all those sicknesses and maladies for us in compassion as St. Paul says Bear ye one anothers burdens Gal. 6. that is by mutual pitty and affection so Christ did take our diseases upon him by compunction and commiseration for his brethren The third are deformitates naturae all manner of sins which are the ugly blots and deformities of nature and those he did bear for us not by being made a sinner but by representation when he stood before John in Jordan like one that was defiled He came to undergo infirmities and to confer strength to take injuries to bestow dignities to stand for a sick person and to bring health to represent a sinner but to act a Saviour That is the sum of the third reason Fourthly St. Austin imagined that Christ had another intention in his Baptism indirectly and by the by Vt Daemoni se occultaret for the device of a stratagem to mock the Devil that he might not be known of him but to draw Satan into the combat of a tentation which fell out in the beginning of the next Chapter The Figures out of the Old Testament were not unknown to this cunning Serpent that it must be only an Heifer without blemish and a Lamb without spot which was offered up unto the Lord to be a Sacrifice of attonement Therefore he must be holy and undefiled who should be sent from God to bruise the Serpents head and to save the people from their sins Then this projecting Satan makes no question to rank him for a defiled person that came to be baptized therefore he doth infer foolishly that upon advantage of fasting forty days he might tempt him to sin against the Lord. Because the Devil and his Angels make it their life and pleasure to delude us silly men God makes it his glory in our just revenge to mock and delude our enemy as the Priests of Baal abused the poor people with hypocritical false pretences therefore Elias turned those scoffs upon themselves and flouted the Priests of Baal It is strange that when as the Devil glories in the subtilty of a Serpent yet God should make his understanding so blind that he never perfectly understood how Christ was the eternal Son of God that came to destroy his grizzly kingdom untill he had suffered upon the Cross and died for the sins of the world First Satans eyes were dazled that he could not learn whether Christ was born of a pure Virgin because by Gods providence she was married to Joseph Besides like a meer man he was obedient to his Parents and for thirty years neither preacht nor wrought any miracle In the first issue he sees him baptized in the representation at least of a sinful man he sees him in a great peril upon the waters nigh to drowning observes he kept no austere life but eat and drank with sinners finally views him betrayed by a Disciple that was his own familiar friend then beaten and bruised by every cruel Officer All these badges of infirmity put together did drive those Fiends of darkness to surmise this was not He that should conquer death and the nethermost Pit At last the most refined of the ancient Authors do ingenuously collect that when Satan perceived him answering nothing before Pilate but willing to be offered up then he began to interpret this was the Lamb dumb before the shearer so opened he not his mouth and finally at the Passion of the Cross he might see plainly that God had darkned him not to find the truth and that his Dominion through his own malice was taken away for ever by the death of Jesus Therefore I return where I began the reason this wicked one was intrapt to think our blessed Lord was a sinner because he was baptized Says Origen upon the Passion Christ was visibly crucified in Mount Calvary but invisibly the Devil and the powers of Hell was nailed to the Cross so I may say Christ was visibly baptized but Satan and his Host were invisibly drowned in those waters because they were sanctified in this washing to save us from our sins And that is the sum of the fourth reason For brevity sake I will joyn our last reason and some meditations of Use together Our Saviour came to be baptized Vt per novum ritum homines ad novitatem introducerentur that by his example to undergo a new Rite and Ordinance men might be drawn from old customs to newness of life The new Ordinance had ratification and authority from the act of Christ as I have shewed before he was both circumcized and baptized but says Bernard Illud mihi tenendum tradidit quod ultimò suscepit He hath delivered to me to have and to hold for the perpetual Sacrament of the Church that which was last in being for the form of a new Covenant was established to evacuate the old But what 's a new form if the old corruptions be retained What an eye-sore is a new piece in an old garment As good be an unbelieving Jew after the ancient tincture of the Law as be a novel transformed Christian after the old leven of the Devil As St. Paul put the Romans in mind of their first rudiments so must I remember you Rom. vi 4. Therefore we are buried with Christ by Baptism unto death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so also we should walk in newness of life Here are three things in order that have a pious connexion between them first a burial as it were in the water then a death and after that a rising again First I say the plunging or dipping in the water resembles a burial for although
prompt him with this remembrance be not a blemish to the glory of thy Father in Heaven So much for that part of the Testimony Christ is the eternal Son of God and by him we are called to adoption of Sons Now the Spirit could not stay here but proceeds to glorifie him further This is my beloved Son This is my beloved and thou art my beloved we read it both ways in several Evangelists Ne uno modo dictum minùs intelligatur says St. Austin that the words expressed two manner of ways might be more clearly intelligible Thou art my beloved Son and this is my beloved Son do admonish us two things out of this diversity both that the Father is highly pleased in his Son and that in him he is well pleased with us for his Sons sake For he hath accepted us in the beloved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. i. 6. This title of beloved is three ways agreeable to Christ 1. Super omnes dilectus est à patre That above all things he is beloved of the Father an infinite love must needs result upon the begetting of an infinite wisdom Amor Deum gubernat amoris omne regnum est the heathen were wont to sing it and knew no reason for it but we know why that God himself was ruled by love love swayed all things in the world God himself is ruled by love that is the Father is intreated by the merits of his Son to break the yoak of his own justice from off our necks and hath put the dominion of life and death into his hands that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow as if he chiefly delighted in the honour of his Son The Schoolmen acutely assign him the preheminence of the Father above all things with this distinction that he was Dilectus quia filius not Filius quia dilectus Beloved because he was a Son and not made a Son because he was beloved which is the condition of them that are adopted Secondly Christ is Paterni amoris erga nos argumentum the proof of Gods exceeding love to us for so God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that who so believeth in him should not perish but have life everlasting so he loved it that there is no measure or similitude to compare it The gradations of Bernard by which he draws up our soul higher and higher to meditate upon the divine love are these 1. Prius nos dilexit it were fit the Lord should be sought unto by such underlings as we are yet he began in way of affection and prevented us well contented if we would correspond and answer his offer 2. Tantillos dilexit he loved us and ordained to make us a people when as yet we were not 3. Tales he loved us again in his best beloved when we had defiled our creation 4. Tantus O the immenseness of his love he that is greater than the Heavens said unto us poor dust and ashes let me be your Saviour 5. Tantum dilexit so constant was the passion of his love that it brought him to the Passion of the Cross 6. Tam gratis of his own free love without merits foreseen in us to deserve it he bequeathed unto us an immortal inheritance this is the purchase of that well-beloved in whom he cannot but be well pleased As in the brestplate of Aaron there was holiness written to the Lord that the people might be accepted when he offered incense for them so the love of God is written with the pen of a Diamond in his Son never to be blotted out that looking upon him we might find grace and favour to be received into glory Thirdly Christ is beloved because he was obedient in all things we are all children of wrath that have rebelled against our Father God looked down from heaven to see if any would seek after him and we are all gone out of the way they were all become abominable usque ad unum and that one was Christ This voice prevents that infidelity which some might imagine upon his Passion for they that lookt with fleshly eyes might think he was one rejected and forsaken of God they might think him under the frown and malediction of his Father for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree but howsoever in the representation of our sins the Sun may discolour him and make him look black yet he is fair O daughters of Jerusalem and though we be prodigals that have wasted our Fathers goods and mis-imployed the portion of his grace yet the voice from heaven shall never be proved a liar concerning Christ This is my beloved Son Behold my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased Mat. xii 18. God is love and if the Son take the name from the Father may he not rightly be called the Beloved If I be a Master says our God where is my fear If I be a Father where is my honour And may he not add If I be the love of the Church where is the love to requite it For without love we may keep all the rest to our selves If we fear him without love it is abject and servil if we honour him without love it is flattery Love made the world of visible creatures and it must make the new world of Saints and Angels Truly did one say that the Emblem of a pious heart was Carbo ignitus divini amoris flammâ absorptus A firy coal wasting away all the gross and earthy parts of it with the flame of divine love Were never any tears better bestowed than one I read of in ancient times whose eyes did shed drops to see Gods glory scandalously abused by those that lived about him and being asked What ailed him to grieve so much for other mens sins It was his wonted answer Quia amor non amatur because love it self was not beloved again For if you loved me says Christ yo wo ld keep my Commandments Intimate love thinks nothing too much and too tedious to be done for the beloved yea it thinks nothing too bitter to be suffered no more did Christ for his Church The Spouse doth interlace it among her love-delights that she should suffer for the Lord so it is figuratively couched Cant. i. 13. My love is a bundle of Myrrh to me Says Bernard Myrrha amara aspera c. Myrrh is rugged and bitter yet of sweet fragrancy So tribulation is harsh but sweet for Christs sake And again Fasciculus Myrrhae dilectus mihi My Beloved is fasciculus but a little bundle of Myrrh but a little corrasive of affliction whatsoever we suffer Quia leve prae amore ipsius ducat quicquid asperi immineat If our affection be strong and entire to God a great deal of sorrow is nothing it is but a little bundle for I reckon that the sorrows of this life are not worthy the glory that shall be revealed Give me a resolute will ready to
do all that God bids Give me a contented heart ready to endure all that God imposeth and then as thou shalt be an heir with Christ in the inheritance of heaven so thou shalt share with him in his sweetest title upon earth Thou art my beloved Son c. The last part of the Testimony comes now to my hand to be be dispatch'd that Christ is Filius complacentiae in whom and through whom the Father is well pleased O delicious words fit to be uttered by a voice from heaven and at the appearance of the Holy Gbost Partem aliquam venti Divum referatis ad aures We have delighted our hearts in the former Treatises to consider that from Servants we are become Sons from a People justly hated we are become beloved but to whom do we owe all this Surely as Mary and Martha said to Christ If thou hadst been here my brother Lazarus had not died So may we turn it and say if thou hadst not been here we had all died in our sins Therefore the voice points upon him that we may take notice how he is worth the knowing Hic est quem quaerimus hic est This is he that hath turned anger into reconciliation and enmity into peace As who should say I was once pleased at the making of the first Adam and I said all was very good for he was endued with original righteousness that he might have done all things well How much better am I pleased with the second Adam who hath done all things well and though it repented me afterward that I made man my Son yet now I am pleased with all that repent for my Sons sake Therefore thou art he for whose sake I will give heaven to them who have deserved the nethermost Hell thou art he by whom I have ordained to execute my pleasure to save the world To whom therefore do we owe our Salvation Or what moved our Father which is in heaven to elect us to the fruition of his glory If you will have an answer both clear according to Scripture and befitting our own humility it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good pleasure of the Father whose will is the true and only cause that can be given for the happiness of all things that shall enjoy him who hath predestinated us to himself unto the adoption of Sons by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will Eph. i. 6. To ascribe our Election to any thing discerned in our selves as I apprehend it shakes the foundation of the Gospel which in every passage makes Salvation the free gift of God by grace in Christ But Christ is both the exemplary the final and the meritorious cause of our Salvation The exemplary for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son Rom. viii 23. From whence Aquinas fetcheth it that Christ is the true Pattern by which we are predestinated respecting the manner by which we obtain that infinite good which is by mere grace For as the humane nature was united to the Godhead by no precedent merits so by his mere good pleasure without any thing precedent in us to attract him we shall be united to his glory 2. He is the final cause of our Election for to what end are we beloved To what end pluckt out of the jaws of Hell like a brand out of the fire But that he might be glorified among his Brethren God ordained his Son to be head of the Church and then he gave unto him a portion to be members of his body Wherefore the Church most aptly is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fulness of him that filleth all in all Eph. i. ult As if Christ had not esteemed his own glory to be full and perfect without us But 3. He must also be acknowledged the meritorious cause of our Salvation For God so loved the good of his Creature that he did not forget to see his own justice satisfied by the obedience and death of Christ which satisfaction the Father lookt upon as the meritorious cause that we should be ordained to adoption of Sons God lookt upon the ransom of this Sacrifice when he did predestinate us to Salvation which surely is the sense of this voice This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Therefore this clause of my Text was St. Pauls warrant for so much as he wrote to the Colossians Chap. i. 20. It pleased the Father to reconcile all things unto himself by him by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven The self-same three things which are considerable in my Text and not yet opened are here likewise in their proper notions 1. That peculiarly above other Persons of Trinity the Father is said to be pleased with us and the Father reconciled 2. That it is assigned to the Office of the Son by it self to please and reconcile 3. That the Father is pleased in all things both in heaven and earth by the reconciliation of the Son cursorily of each For the first still the Scripture speaks that the Sacrifice placatory was offered up to the Father that he might draw us to himself who were aliens and castaways When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Rom. v. 10. Believe it that every sin is committed against the whole divine Majesty and as every person in Trinity was dishonoured in the offence so we have need of pacification with all in the reconcilement But that the Scripture makes us rather take notice how the Father is reconciled unto us there are two reasons One that the Father is the Fountain of all Divinity the first person in order against whom we sin yet we sin against all So the first Person in order that is reconciled unto us yet we are reconciled to all 2. Though every work belonging to the Church be the conjunct act of the Trinity yet there are proper Offices belonging to several Persons to make our conceit more methodical So we know it by the phrase of Scripture that it is proper to the Father to receive us into grace proper to the Son to pay the price of our redemption and proper to the Holy Ghost to seal it to our hearts and to beget assurance in us It follows secondly that it belongs to the Office of the Son to make us pleasing and to reconcile us to God There is no other name under heaven but his in which Salvation can be hoped for Acts iv 12. for should the Angels or should men be appointed to such an Office to knit us into amity again with God and to reduce us to that eternal concord who were become open enemies It could not be For Angels and men owe as much obedience for their own part as they could perform Neither ought it to be for it was not fit that man should owe his Redemption to any other than to whom he owed his Creation
you Without me you can do nothing so our Saviour Had he said without me you can do little or without me you can do no excellent thing or without me it will be hard and difficult for you or without me you can perfect no good work then there had been some evasion for a man to trust in his own abilities but to say without me you can do neither much nor little greater things nor inferiour things with ease or with difficulty neither finish nor begin this chops off all boasting in the powers and industries of the natural man Without me ye can do nothing The Eunuch plainly felt this impotency and when Philip askt him Vnderstandest thou what thou readest Says he How can I unless some man should guide me As the sick person complained at the Pool of Bethesda he wanted some man to put him in when the water was troubled Verè homo fuit illi necessarius sed homo ille qui Deus est Says St. Austin He wanted a man indeed to cure him but no other than he that is God and man Jesus Christ So the Eunuch wanted no other man to guide him but he that was made the Son of man that we might be made the Sons of God And upon those words of the Eunuch thus St. Hierom. We come not to walk in the paths of life Sine praevio monstrante semitam Without celestial aid to prepare the way and go before us Let me strike these two strokes more upon this point and I have done with it first when I say nature is so unfit to produce any good so indisposable to attain the Kingdom of heaven let no man say Why should I strive then against the stream of my inbred corruptions I will give my self over to work all filthiness with greediness This is a devillish resolution But rather say I will be very instant in prayer with my God that he will take away this heart of stone and give me an heart of flesh For in the like case the Tongue can no man tame it is an unruly evil full of deadly poyson Jam. iii. 8. So St. James It is not his meaning that we should suffer this unruly evil to do what it list and permit it without any manner of reformation but with all contention of heart to implore the divine assistance that this member of unrighteousness may become an instrument to serve the Lord. Secondly Those Nations whom we perceive to be led by the viciousness of their own nature and not to be led by the spirit we cannot say without great error and obstinacy that these are appointed to everlasting life if the heathen had sufficient means of salvation what priviledge had we in the Church who have the Word and Sacraments and the infusions of sanctification to make them profitable Thou knowst Lord why these do sit in darkness and in the shadow of death Bonus es in beneficio certorum justus in supplicio ceterorum says St. Austin Thou art very good to those to whom thou art gracious thou art very just to those that are punished This is St. Pauls doctrine up and down Eph. ii 12. It cannot be controuled He describes the wretched estate of the Gentiles before salvation appeared unto them We were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the Covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world How can it be affirmed that they want not help to bring them out of this captivity of sin When St. Paul says Spem non habentes they have no hope This is the condition of nature which is not aided by the Spirit 2. Now I will unfold how we are led by initiating or preventing grace when we are first made partakers to taste of the hope of a better life In this Point I will annex the explication of two things First That there is such an initial preparatory grace in them that are not yet justified and converted 2. That in the first entrance of it the Spirit doth produce it in us solely and entirely the will of man conferring no strength at all Concerning the former of these two conclusions I say there are many good internal effects wrought by the power of the Word and the illumination of the Holy Ghost which enter into the hearts of them that are not yet converted as some knowledge of the divine will sense of sin fear of punishment grudgings of sorrow some earnings to be delivered some hope of favour This is a middle state between natural corruption which is altogether enmity with God and between perfect regeneration when we are called to adoption of Sons I marvel this should not be easily admitted for these reasons The Philippians had fellowship in the Gospel St. Paul calls this the beginning of a good work in them and he trusts God would perform and finish it Phil. i. 6. Yet more clearly Heb. vi 4. he shews there are antecedent portions of grace in many before they are converted and made heirs with Christ yea in such as never were ingrafted lively in Christ he calls it thereby the name of illumination tasting of the heavenly gift tasting of the power of God tastings of the Word of God and in some wise being made partakers of the Holy Ghost Yet these having but these first preparations of grace may backslide crucifie the Lord of life and put him to an open shame The similitudes which are used to shew how grace doth possess the soul do plainly shew as much 1. As in natural generation there are many previous dispositions which go before the introduction of the soul into the matter So there must be many antecedent preparations of the divine blessing before our spiritual regeneration that we be born again and become the Sons of God 2. Gratia se habet ad animum sicut sanitas ad corpus Grace doth raise up the soul from sin as health doth affect the body and bring it out of sickness but there is a middle state of recovery before health be perfectly regained so there is a previous illumination and good direction in the mind and will which go before our conversion that we be actually made the living members of Christ Some are afraid to call this grace and yet they cannot avoid it for they are compelled to call it auxilium Dei a special help of God flowing from his providence Sometimes they abhor not the name but say it is gratia reprimens an assistance of God whereby such as are not converted may repress the occasions or commissions of some heinous sins Either they allow it to be as much as true grace or no better than nature for many evils may be avoided and repress'd by nature no good thing can be done without grace It is therefore that internal calling wherewith God doth seriously invite those to repentance and belief in Christ who have the tidings of salvation brought unto their ears I say I speak of those only who are
called to hear the word of faith and of none other God might have left them in their bloud as the Prophet Ezekiel speaks and given them over to the reprobate sense of their own mind but because he requires a new Covenant from all those to whom Christ is preached therefore he gives them new abilities lest he should seem to invite them in vain but being supplied with these internal excitations of supernatural help they are unexcusable This is the way to give God the glory and to make all the hearers of the Word know what talent they have received But the force of exhortations and expostulations were taken away if a sinner were converted by Enthusiasms and sudden inspirations If God would immediately bring a man to himself without feeling of his sin without hating it without desiring pardon it were superfluous to say We beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain I marvel you are so soon removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ Gal. i. 6. They that heard St. Peters Sermon Acts ii 37. at the beginning of it were unbelieving and rebellious Jews before he had ended they were terrified felt the guiltiness of innocent bloud upon themselves desired freedom submitted themselves to direction Men brethren what shall we do All these were good internal effects but as yet they were not converted and regenerate as yet unbelievers for had they believed they had never made that question What shall we do They come to that in the next verse says Peter Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins Well they followed this counsel and then at the soonest and not before they were justified in Christ for thereupon it is said There were added unto the Church above three thousand souls So I have made that conclusion undeniable I think that Christ doth produce some effects of initial grace before conversion The next conclusion is that since the natural man hath no powers in the freedom of his will to do good therefore the first effects of grace that are brought forth in us the Holy Ghost doth produce them solely and intirely the will of man conferring no strength at all As the ground receives the seed which is cast into it so a natural man takes the good seed from God which he casts into him passivè receptivè only passively and by way of reception Even they that will not be beaten off from their tenet but that the will of man hath some cooperancy with Gods grace in the act of conversion yet they give their suffrage to this doctrine that this preventing grace or grace of preparation is res infusa not comparata a thing infused from above not gotten by our diligence or acquired even as the air doth not dispose it self to admit the light of the Sun but is illuminated by the presence of the Sun They are best known by the name of Semi-pelagians who would not admit this truth for it was taught in their School that the beginning of faith was from man and the increase from the power of the Holy Ghost But why did they teach that the beginning of faith was from man Because they imagined that the talent of grace was promised to them that used the talent of nature well Habenti dabitur to him that hath it shall be given But I would have them find me any such Covenant in all the Scripture which God made with man that such as negotiated the talent of nature well should have an increase of grace for their reward It is a trespass and a foul one to bely a man and to father Covenants upon him which he never made the offence is greater to alledge Covenants from God and yet no tittle leaning that way in all his Testament The powers of nature are blindness of understanding obdurateness of will perverseness of affections what reward can be due to these but eternal death When thou wert in thy bloud Ezek. xvi that is when thou wert under the loathsom filthiness of sin and under the condemnation of death I said unto thee live that is I began to extend my mercy of vivification upon thee The beginning and introduction of all Christian vertue is to think of God From whence comes this From any good parts wherewith we were born Go to the fountain of wisdom and ask there We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. iii. 5. The next a b c and first rudiment of goodness is to pray to God Is nature a sufficient Mistris to teach you that Is it not the Spirit which the Lord sends into us crying Abba Father I will pour upon the house of David the Spirit of grace and supplications and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Zach. xii 10. Thus St. Austin proves that the very firstlings and proems of all our Christian dispensations are from God because St. Paul said I obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful 1 Cor. vii 25. Misericordiam consecutus sum ut fidelis essem non ut fidelior essem That I was made faithful or had any faith it was the benefit of God and not only by way of increase or augmentation that I was made more faithful otherwise we should lead the Spirit to take his aim from us and not be led by the Spirit a Passive Verb and fit to express that we are merely passive in the first preparations of faith I shall speak anon touching that efficacy of the Spirit upon the heart of man But touching the work of preparatory grace in the first onset it brings illumination with it it dispels darkness from our understanding it makes us perceive we are gone astray in our sins like sheep that are lost it makes us know God is to be feared it makes us discern that we are in a wretched estate this illumination cannot be resisted Mens nostra ipsum scire effugere non potest Philosophy doth dictate that we cannot repel the knowledge of a thing palpably demonstrated before us though we would it pierceth as easily into the mind as a needle through a thin cloath Yet I do not say this grace which first possesseth the soul and makes it willing to good motions which was most averse before doth compel a man or force him compulsion is a word of hostility rather than of favour It comes with that sweetness and authority together that it will not be said nay Thus we are led by the Spirit in the first introduction of preparatory grace The third thing to be considered is how the Spirit doth lead us all the while we use this preparatory grace before conversion St. Austin comprehended all in this short rule Primùm gratia Dei operatur bonam voluntatem deinde per eam First Gods grace doth effect a good will in us and then by that will so illuminated and excited it produceth
world must have somewhat to content hunger therefore supposing that there is most Angelical sanctity in Christ yet since there is humane infirmity likewise it must be repaired with sobriety Nay if any religious purpose of fasting hinder him yet what holy man did fast for any long space but he would take bread and water of affliction sometimes That it seems did not dissolve the religion of his Fast Is not this a fair curtain to draw before the mischief of his tentation Nay many Expositors are so puzzeled with the legerdemain of this craft that they conclude that sin of Gluttony was not so much as aimed at or alas there is small likelihood that one should sin in gluttony by eating bread when he was an hungry And as small likelihood that he should sin if he made bread miraculously out of stones when he was pressed unto it by Famine For twice he multiplied the Loaves and Fishes miraculously in the Wilderness when he had compassion of the People who were ready to faint for want of bread and who did ever find fault with it Theophylact was driven into such a straight with this objection that he answereth Christ was tempted to gluttony because he was tempted to superfluity Cum panis unus sufficeret postulavit lapides in panes converti When one loaf would have sufficed to have asswaged his hunger the Devil demanded no less than all the stones that were before them to be made bread and the Relators of the holy Land say that in that Desart where Christ fasted called the Mountain of Quarantena divers stones black in colour and large in quantity are shewed unto travellers as the very stones remaining to this day at which the Devil pointed in his tentation St. Matthew it is true relates that the Devil spake Plurally Command that these stones be made bread St. Luke tells the same story in the Singular number Command that this stone be made bread It is well reconciled as if the Tempter had over-reacht himself at first and made an unreasonable motion and then comes off if it like you not to change all these stones yet at least be pleased to turn this one into bread Since therefore the Tempter at last moved for no more than the supply of one loaf of bread wherein lies the suspicion of gluttony that he perswaded him to that In a word thus it was No man could have called it intemperance in Christ if being very hungry after a fast of forty days he had made bread and brought it miraculously out of the hard stones but upon occasion of hunger to obey the Devil in procuring our meat it had been a grievous gluttony He that cannot abstain and should marry because the Devil bad him to him it were incontinency He that should use lawful recreation because the Devil bad him to him it were voluptuousness He that should rest his weariness when the Devil requested him to it to him it were idleness So to eat bread upon his motion whom we must fly and abhor it would come into the rank of the deadly sins and pass by the name of Gluttony We deceive our selves if we think so well of Satans kindness that he is tender of our health and would not have us fast too long rather he desires our death and that all humane nature were dissolved into dust and ashes what cares he to have stones turned into bread But to have men turn'd into beasts into Swine that wallow in fulness of bread and luxury If he can get Sodom to delight in fulness of bread he knows their end will be fire and brimstone Signum panis petit qui signum jejunii pertimescit says Chrysologus He loves to see the miracles of bread and feeding he cannot abide to see the miracle of fasting and temperance Your sobriety shall make the Devil drunk with wrath because he cannot overcome you And when the Tempter is vanquished and hath given us over yet the judgment of God is to come his dreadful judgment which is to be feared if we live in riot and wantonness But will you not fear that judgment Mark our Saviours counsel after a long description of the wofulness of that last day thus he concludes Take heed to your selves lest at any time your hearts be over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares Luk. xxi 34. Mark I pray you how Satan useth to speed those with his courtesie that will be obnoxious to him Instead of some relief for hunger he brings stones Lapides esurienti offert humanitas talis est semper inimici sic pascit mortis autor sic invidus vitae What man is there of you whom if his Son ask bread will he give him a stone Mat. vii 9. It were no humanity indeed but look for no better courtesie from the Fiend of Hell A stone and bread are most opposite substances Hawks may take pebles for casting but there is no nutrition in them yet this is our enemies courtesie you want bread here is a stone for you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus the Author of death will feed you who envies the life of men But our God is very liberal he openeth his hand and filleth all things living with plenteousness he openeth and never shutteth his bowels of compassion against his children he with-holdeth no good thing from them that lead a godly life On the contrary Satans service is most bare and wretched The Prince of Poets sets Famine and Scarcity next to the suburbs of Hell Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci malesuada fames turpis egestas Judas presently gave up all that he got in the Devils service and his life to boot in a most hideous death But Honesty howsoever some wicked Proverbs say it ends in beggary I say if it be kept constantly without halting it is seldom a looser in this life but I am sure it is an infinite gainer in the life to come Serve the Lord therefore with zeal and innocency and your wages shall not be denied you I know he will outbid all the world all the Princes of the world and Satan himself the Prince of riches Did he ever put such a scoff upon the hungry as make you bread out of stones He opened the hard rock indeed so that waters flowed out for his people but he did not bid them bite upon the rock for bread but he rained down Manna from heaven Convert your hearts and your thoughts to the holy Sacrament Doth God put us off there Command that stones be made bread No he makes bread become the body of his dearly beloved Son by the application of faith and he that eateth of it worthily shall be made one body with Christ and live for ever AMEN THE SEVENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 3. If thou be the Son of God command that these stones be made bread OUR present business
Receiver Also we apply general Promises to our selves by the word of absolution For although God only pardons sins yet he hath promised to his Priests if our hearts be well disposed to admit their work Quicquid recipitur recipitur ad modum recipientis What they loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven but the special motive is the inward testimony of the Holy Ghost speaking in the conscience of true believers by the effects of grace This last is it which is opposed by some namely that there is no assurance ordinarily begot by the Testimony of the Spirit to a mans private spirit that he is the child of God But this I will prove This is not denied that this is the faith of the Gospel on which we lay hold for eternal life whosoever truly believeth on Christ he shall be saved and cannot a man infallibly infer but I do through Gods grace truly believe in Christ Cannot a man search into his own heart that he doth receive Christ not only in his judgment by a firm willing and unfained assent but also by an earnest desire to be made partaker of him and by a setled resolution to acknowledge him to be his Saviour Surely the mind is not ignorant of its own actions when it understandeth when it assenteth it knoweth it self to assent when it desireth it knoweth it self to desire when it resolveth it knoweth it self to resolve Much more is it able to examine it self being holpen by the Spirit of God I may boldly say the Letter of the Scripture is not more plain for any point of Divinity than for this Rom. viii 16. The Spirit it self beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God Either we can feel this witness and make use of it or to what end is it given And why else are we bidden to feel and try that good work of the Spirit if it be in our selves Examine your selves whether you be in the faith 2 Cor. xiii 5. The true sorrowful penitent hath not less comfort now than if Christ were still upon the earth But to some of them while he lived in Jury it was graciously spoken Daughter be of good chear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be confident thy sins are forgiven thee And again I have prayed Peter that thy faith may not fail he let Peter know so much that he might enjoy that comfortable perswasion They that oppose frame this retorsion Some of the most excellent Saints as Peter and Paul knew that Christ did live in them and that they were living members of his body for whom God had received the Crown of life yet this they attained unto not by the ordinary strength of faith but by extraordinary revelation No such matter for says St. Peter Give deligence to make your Calling and Election sure This exhortation were frustrate to stir up our diligence for that work if certitude of salvation come only by extraordinary revelation and St. Paul protesting that neither life nor death could separate not himself only but us many more of the Elect from the love of God draws his perswasion from such reasons as were common to him with all the Saints Rom. viii 32. to the end of the Chapter Because God hath not spared his own Son for our sakes because with him he would freely give us all things because Christ is risen from the dead because he sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us And now I will draw up my meaning in this first conclusion 1. Nothing but true faith can breed this particular application that any regenerate person should have affiance for his own salvation 2. That true faith doth not attain it in all but is kept back in many by tentations afflictions weakness want of instruction 3. Every good Christian ought to endeavour to get this assurance 4. Many without presumption have that stedfast and infallible comfort of Christs mercies applied unto themselves 5. In all that are truly justified it hath a sure foundation to beget it if they would well examine it Let no man therefore cavil upon any of these Points single unless he remember them all together The second conclusion follows the Holy Ghost doth beget this certitude of salvation in some measure in the faithful by causing them to examine what good fruits they have produced already from a lively faith and do firmly resolve to produce hereafter Let a well-guided conscience search how contritely we have repented us of those sins which we have committed What good works we have brought forth I mean good in their kind according to the manifold imperfections of our frailty examine whether they were done to be praised of men for fear of the Magistrate for fear of infamy or for Gods glory Whether we would not willingly leave all we have life and all rather than lose our integrity Examine all these things after Gods Word and not after the fashion of the world and what strong and serious resolutions you have for the time to come and upon strict inquiry if you find a good account then conclude I feel the Lord dwell in me by his holy Spirit I feel by these good effects he will not forsake me If any look for Enthusiasms as if God should whisper this to them in their ear they are much deceived Mark by what Index St. Paul directs us by the marks of sanctification There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit And St. John clean throughout his first Epistle Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments And by this we know we are translated from death to life if we love the brethren St. Austin thus upon it for an interpreter Let every man enter into his own heart and if he find there brotherly charity let him be secure for he is passed from death to life I confess it and I admonish you upon it it is no such easie thing as the most imagine to try and find out whether our charity be rooted in a lively faith And in examination of particular actions from whence it must be manifested there may be much deceit much mistaking this causeth doubtings and fears and suppositions and intermissions of confidence Yet this is a possibility to sound the depth of a mans own heart and so St. Austin pleads on my side again A man may know the charity wherewith he loveth his brother better then he knoweth his brother Some there are and not a few who would cloy the Doctrine of special faith with this absurdity That many are encouraged thereby to run on in all manner of iniquity as if it were no matter how many and how grievous sins they committed so long as they were assured by this special application of Christ that all their sins were remitted But mark this second conclusion and it is abundantly enough to put to silence this cavillation
these things and come to that heavenly Banquet without these preparatory steps and so you shall eat and drink your own damnation It is fit likewise that all our life should be a meditation of our death to number our days one by one as we go down to the grave No says the Tempter jump down from the Pinacle to the bottom it is a melancholy cogitation never think of it till it comes do not go down fair and softly with fear and trembling but defer all your repentance to the last hour and then commend yourself to God And none are more in fault in this kind than they who begin at the top of the golden Chain at Election and Predestination and straight leap into the assurance of their Glorification they are Predestinated to his Kingdom therefore theirs is the Adoption of Sons theirs is the inheritance without more ado Soft and fair this is a jump from one end to another without steps there must be a ladder of practice to come to these things or your boasting may be in vain and you may fail of that Salvation wherein you falsly glory Examine your Love if it be sincere examine your Repentance if it be very mournful and make you most resolute to be a new Creature Examine your Faith if it be stedfast and immovable prove it by such fruits as will grow upon a living tree and then God hath given you leave to rise up upon these degrees to ascend in these effects from one to another till you lay hold of the highest Link and say with the Prophet I am thine O save me I am thy Child by Adoption and Grace and thou art my Father who hast elected me before the foundations of the World But beware of these desultory motions to fall down from aloft and not pass by such steps and stairs as God hath ordained And so much for this motion to which the Tempter perswaded Christ Jace teipsum deorsum Cast thy self down Next let us see how the Tempter would have Christ take his fall from the Pinacle of the Temple why he would have it to be his own voluntary act Cast thy self down And subtilly continued to palliate this horrid Vice as if it had been humility Humility must be home-born flow from our own willingness without the least compulsion or constraint Cast thy self down For they that are pressed down and would get higher if they could they are not humiles but humiliati it is their cross fortune not their mortified affections that they are not upon the top of a Pinacle But as I have said already you can taste no such thing as pious humility in the Devils counsel But first as St. Hierom shews he doth much betray his own weakness in this to commend the execution of this tentation to Christ himself and not to take it into his own hands He can perswade he cannot precipitate a man whether he will or no. Nemini potest nocere nisi ipse se deorsum miserit It is not in his power to throw you down if you will save your self No Sorcerer no worker with familiar spirits had ever the power to hurt the meanest Magistrate in the Commonwealth that examined them or any Officer of correction that did chastise them His Dominion is inhibited that he can take away no mans life by hostile violence It is one of the flowers of Gods own Royalty that life and death are before him only he giveth breath and he calls it away when he pleaseth And as Satan cannot hurt the body of man but by our own consent and by our own permission so he must ask us leave and work it by our own perverse will if he ensnare our soul in any iniquity He cannot break open the door no nor so much as draw the latch but if he find the door open and the room swept and garnished then he enters in Luk. xv Some ungodly ones think they have made a fine excuse when they cast their faults upon the Devil If you have blasphemed or reviled it was he I wiss that was the cause of it if you have spilt bloud it was he that did direct your hand to this hainous fact if you lived in malice it was he no doubt that crossed you from many purposes to be reconciled what cares he to let you run on in these excuses You deceive your selves your Debts increase and I am sure he will never pay the score for you I allow it unto you that he is as subtil to cast scandalous objects in your way as malice can make him as forward to excite you to all evil as diligence will suffer him as vigilant as a restless spirit can be to divert you from all good But what of all this If you will not lend him your own free-will to practise with he is quite excluded All those Antecedents are but invitations to evil not compulsions Malorum immissor non impulsor If you will not cast your self down head-long he cannot thrust you into wickedness In this Text he confesseth that the last and complete power is in our selves to hurt our selves and not in him all precipitations are his counsels but our own motions Cast thy self down Then the Tempter could not cast our Saviour down it is his restraint and weakness moreover he would not though he could For Nullum praecipitium nisi voluntarium est praesumptio No tumbling cast had born the guilt of presumption with it unless it had been voluntary and of his own doing And now I am come to the most horrid part of this second Tentation wherein Christ was provoked to destroy himself with his own will to be guilty of his own murder the most irremediable sin as much as I can perceive that can be committed Though he would not come down from the Cross and save himself but was led with all patience as a Lamb unto the slaughter yet his death was inflicted upon him by Pilates Souldiers he was not his own Executioner The Jews never spake more despightfully against him than when they asked Will he kill himself because he says whither I go ye cannot come Job viii 22. No let Satan put such desperate resolutions into the heart of Judas the Traytor to make himself away And some Historiographers would perswade us that the Devil obtained this very request of him which he moved to Christ to cast himself down from some lofty Pinacle St Matthews words must be true that he hanged himself and St. Lukes words must be true that falling down headlong he burst asunder in the midst Acts i. 18. Theophylact says the bough of the tree bended to the ground upon which he hung and since he could not dispatch his life that way he brake his neck down a steepy Mountain and burst in twain And now all Ages call him Reprobate as well for this desperate conclusion of his life as for betraying Christ There were some Hereticks of whom I think one Petileus was the Author
these did foully err and hold that a man being conscious to himself of some sin that was worthy death might put himself to death that it was an act of justice yea and a Martyrdom and upon this ground whether shouId I say more foolish or more impious they Canonized Judas for a Martyr But St. Austin shews that their Argument jars against two common principles Nemo potest esse judex reus It is incompetible that the same man should be both the guilty person and the Judge 2. Nocentem hominem privata potestate occidere non licet It is murder for any private man not authorized by a lawful Magistrate to execute death upon a Malefactor Judam execramur quamvis sceleratum hominem occidit Judas was a Malefactor and could not kill a worse man than himself yet that sin alone without the rest was damnation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the slaying of himself Remember the Commandment Thou shalt not kill Whom not Neither your self nor your neighbour for you have no more power to hurt your self than another the body is Gods and the Temple of the Holy Ghost And who gave you leave to pluck down a Temple Nature inclines a man to the conservation of himself and what a detestable thing it is to violate the chief Maxime of Nature Which is this in St. Pauls words No man hates his own flesh but loves and cherisheth it No man indeed but he that makes hast to be no man that he might the sooner be a Devil The Heathen went thus far that a man is put into this world as a Souldier is put into some File or some place of the Watch from that station he must not stir till his General calls him Et majori supplicio afficiendus est desertor vitae quà m desertor militia And is not he more worthy of punishment that leaves the place where God did put him before he was summoned than he that comes off from the Watch before the General calls him If the love of your soul the dreadful expectation of Hell-fire will make you decline a sin take heed of this for Gods sake above all others All other sins when they are committed have yet some leasure to beg mercy and at what time soever a sinner c. but how can the Lord put such a sin out of his remembrance where it is impossible there should be time to repent Vt laqueo respiratio it a prohibetur desperatione spiritus sanctus as Bedae said of Judas they stop their own breath and with that desperate act exclude the Holy Ghost from inspiring any sanctified cogitation into them What can befal a man in this world to defie Heaven and Earth at once And to die the death of the damned without redemption Bethink your selves judiciously it cannot be want torture or calamity for though these be very sharp especially to those that are impatient yet they are not so smartful as the stinging of a Bee nor the biting of a Flea compared with the Lake of Brimstone into which they irrecoverably send their own soul that let out of the body with their own violent hand Nor should it irke a man to stay Gods leasure till he be dissolved for any reproach or ignominy that he hath incurred for so your former dishonour is not forgotten but ten times more divulged and increased See how publick shame which followed such desperate persons after their death did work with some of Miletum as Plutarch reports it Many of the Milesian Virgins through the perswasions of some Diabolical Philosophers hanged themselves To stop this unnatural fury when no reason would revoke them the Magistrates made a Law that the bodies of all such should be left naked in the open Market-place for ten days and the fear of that worldly shame did for ever after rectifie those who were living that they held their hands from violence But what other impulsive cause can be named Can the remorse of sins past breed such a destructive melancholy in any mans disposition God forbid This is to cast Mountains upon Mountains and to make all worse Sins are not covered by heaping one upon another but blessed is the man whose unrighteousness is forgiven and whose sin is covered There is another life given to expiate your iniquities and not your own even the bloud of Christ Repent you seriously and be merciful unto your self and then God will be merciful unto you Yet Achitophel with all his politick reach could not make use of these plain notions but confounded himself partly with the guiltiness of his rebellion partly with the fear of his reputation For it is very likely he shuffled his Game thus If Absalon overcome King David Hushai hath given the better counsel and so I shall live in disgrace If David prevail which is very likely he will take away my life because of the pernicious Plots which I have laid against him See how this witty Wretch could forget that David was a merciful Prince and did not execute one of his enemies in cold bloud But God lets the wits of the wisest turn addle who meditate to be Authors of their own ruine and to cast themselves down from a Pinacle upon the Devils suggestion But God keeps all those from this sin whom he means to have converted and be saved The Jaylor took out his Sword and was ready to have faln upon it but Paul cried out at the instant Do thy self no hurt and soon after he was baptized and believed he and his house Paul may loath this world and desire to be dissolved but he must wait the Lords leisure and not hasten his dissolution It was the blessing of the Lord upon mankind Increase and multiply To replenish the world is a Benediction to take one of Gods Servants away unless by the hand of justice and that the Magistrate doth in the person of God is a Malediction What spirit was in the Tridentine Fathers to make the second book of Machabees Canonical Wherein Razias is commended in most fluent phrases that killed himself I know St. Austin says Razii mors narratur non laudatur it is but a narration of the fact not an Encomium Let any child read Chap. xiv toward the end of it and judge if he be not extolled for it with most artificial commendation The same Father is more Orthodox in another place that pious reason is to be preferred before examples Quae tantò dig niora sunt imitatione quantò excellentiora pietate which are no further worthy of imitation than they excel in Piety And again I may say Why did the Roman Martyrology Canonize the Virgins of Aquileia Who drowned themselves to avoid certain barbarous Ravishers For as Aquinas treats upon the fact 1. Fornication were a less sin than violent murder 2. If they had not refused that carnal sin as much as they could yet Repentance might have wash'd away the spot of that crime in the other act of unnatural
death was contrived and his accusation laid before Pilate he that maketh himself a King is not Cesars friend I have often both read it and seen it that Pride Vain-glory Faction and I know not what have been laid to the charge of the Innocent by some uncharitable mouths who have spread it so far that for all their innocency they could never wipe off the stain Many times the more they decline those crimes the more occasion is taken to accuse them Every thing that Paul could say or do to purge himself wrought him envy and misreport that he was turbulent and a mover of sedition He could never shake it off with all his meekness and modesty Well if mischief and defamation must have their course the remedy is easie though it be desperate commend your innocency to God The Lord of life himself was haunted with a wrong opinion from the time that Satan made this motion to his death that he had a purpose to be a Monarch and to display his Banner against Cesar in the quarrel of the Jews for their ancient liberty The people would have made him a King Joh. vi and he hid himself out of the way yet that would not acquit him his very Disciples not seldom but even till after his Resurrection till they saw him taken away to heaven lookt for honourable command and superiority under him It cost the sweet Babes of Bethlem their lives that the Wisemen of the East called him a King It lost him his own life as I toucht upon it before that the children of Jerusalem entertained him with that acclamation Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord Luk. xix 38. That question was and is scandalous to the Jews was and is a stumbling-block to some Gentiles what manner of Kingdom belonged to Christ as he was man Before ever the Magi of the East said Where is he that is born King of the Jews The Angel upon the first tidings of his Incarnation told the blessed Virgin his Mother The Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end Luk. i. 32. From hence some Papalins whom I formerly refuted stile him a Temporal King who bequeathed all his Dominions to his chief Apostle St. Peter and he to one that is his Successor if it please God in all but his Sanctity Then the perfidious Jews object since the Prophets say that the Messias shall be a King and sit upon the Throne of David the Messias is not yet come because Christ did not triumph and exercise Lordly authority upon the Throne of David To draw out truth against both these at once like a two edged Sword I lay down these three things 1. That neither the Prophets nor St. Luke do teach that Christ had a Temporal Kingdom 2. That he had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom 3. In most proper and safe construction we must say his was a spiritual Kingdom I will be brief in all these especially in the former To make much ado that Christ had no temporal Kingdom were to light a Candle at Noon-day The case is clear for I hope we will believe him rather than his enemies These are his words Joh. xviii 36. My Kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight for me that I should not be delivered to the Jews but my Kingdom is not from hence He meant say some Papalins that the world gave him no Kingdom neither chose him a King yet he doth not deny but he received an earthly Kingdom from God A most empty Objection For Pilate sate his Judge to examine if he made himself a King to injure Cesar The same Pilate liked his answer so well that he told the Jews he found no fault with him But would Pilate have put it up if he had answered no better That he claimed a Kingdom indeed by a right and title derived from heaven frivolous and the Cavil of the Jews comes to nothing that God would set the Messias upon the Seat of his Father David Stretch not the Phrase too far and the meaning is 1. The Messias should come out of Davids Loins 2. And be a King as David was 3. Not after that way an earthly Potentate but after a more noble glorious perfect way than ever David governed And I pray you how could it be that he should be a King over Judah and Israel as David was when that Kingdom was taken away from Davids house before Christ was born and a Prophesie denounced it should never return to that house again So it was foretold to Jeconiah Jer. xxii 30. Write this man barren there shall be no man of his Seed to sit upon the Throne of David and to have power any more in Judah In a word Scripture elsewhere shews that to sit upon Davids Seat was to have the Jews subject unto him not after a carnal way but to be worshipped of them in spirit and to enjoyn them to keep his Laws and Commandments for their salvation So it is Hos iii. 5. They shall seek the Lord their God and David their King and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days Secondly I said Christ had Dominion given to him by his Father over all earthly things but not by way of ruling all things like a King in his Kingdom for by uniting the Humane Nature to the Godhead through the admirable influence of that Hypostatical Union So the very Manhood was made Lord over all things according to those places Mat. xi All things are delivered unto me of my Father And in these last days he spake unto us by his Son whom he made Heir of all things Heb. i. 2. And that you doubt not how he had power over all things as being man united with God he whose name was called the Word of God had a name written on his thigh King of Kings and Lord of Lords Rev. xix 16. Super femur mark that Vpon his thigh that is upon his Humane Nature Now this in him was of a more eminent and sublimed condition than all Regal Authority on the earth It came to him the most glorious way that ever was by the Hypostatical Union not by Conquest Inheritance Election Donation or any earthly sort 2. His power reacheth not only to command the outward actions but the very thoughts and conscience 3. He is over things sensible and insensible Men and Angels quick and dead heaven and earth and the very Regions of darkness 4. When men die their glory perisheth with them but of this mans Kingdom it is often testified there is no end Yea after his death he rose again and then began his Dominion to be most absolute by many exteriour works It was his pleasure oftentimes to exercise
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 get thee behind me Satan which confutes those Expositors that consulted no further than St. Matthew and have made quiddetts upon it that Christ did not reprehend St. Peter Mat. xvi with the same chiding that the Devil hath here Yes even the very same because Peter suggested most carnal counsel from the evil one he suffred this reprehension Get thee behind me Satan But I leave to touch that any further it is not in the Verge of my Text. This is the first time throughout all the three Tentations that Christ calls him by name Satan And surely Cajetan says well upon it Quia manifestavit se esse principem mundi Christus non ei amplius respondit ut homini Because he manifested himself to be the Prince of this world Christ communes not with him now in the former key as if he were a man And unless he had revealed himself perhaps our Saviour would have forborn to detect him that himself might have remained undiscovered to be the Son of God Well though the Tempter borrowed shapes before to hide himself notice is taken now what he was and with much passion our Lord shook him up Get thee hence Satan Our Saviour passed over the two former Tentations mildly but purposes of Idolatry deserve no meek answer The irreverent usage of Gods House when it was defiled with money-changers and the most irreverent abuse of Gods glory in this Text stirred up fire in Christ more than in all other cases and made him hot and vehement Moses the meekest man on earth that would resent no injuries against himself when God was dishonoured in the Calf which the Children of Israel worshipped his anger was so kindled that he threw stones at the Idolaters and broke the Tables which he had in his hand as who should say the Law is broken Let not Gods quarrel want a Patron in you and you shall not want an Advocate with the Father in Christ But what did Satan suffer upon this rebuke What was he the worse for it You can scarce imagin how to conceive more punishment out of so few words than some contemplative men have collected from these First If the High Priests servants were terrified and fell backward when no more was said unto them but Ego sum I am he then what amazement must this reproof strike Get thee hence get thee far from me thou presumptuous Spirit This did not only cast him to the ground but even bruize him under our Saviours feet Rom. xvi 20. The least check from the Lord is able to make the stoutest stomach look pale as death When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away O if that dreadful Judge speak one word of anger who is able to abide it Secondly To be commanded away by one that appeared a man of weakness and infirmity what a great fall was this from that high opinion which even now the Devil had of himself He went away says Chrysologus and was fain to give glory to him of whom he askt adoration He boasted of giving a Kingdom to Christ and Christ gives Law to him and he must obey it Before he would be Christs Leader he lead him to the Mountain he took him nay carried him to the Pinacle of the Temple now he is compelled to change places and come after Get thee behind me Satan Yet I do not say he hath the dignity to come immediately next after Christ Solo Deo minor that is the title of anointed Kings upon earth Nay this reproachful word Get thee behind me deposeth him under all the servants of God Non retro Christum solùm sed post omnes qui spiritum Christi habent ire cogitur He is not only set beneath the Son of God but is an underling far after all those in the Church that have the spirit of Adoption Thirdly You know that this word Get thee behind me was a word of hostility in Jehu's mouth What hast thou to do with peace Get thee behind me So this rebuke proclaims the Devil an enemy whom God drives away and puts him out of his view and sight like an antipathy to the Godhead Ejicitur à facie Dei as one says he was cast behind God hid his face from him he should never more see the beams of that comfort Fourthly It is not expressed whither Christ did banish him when he charged him with his Vade Get thee hence to some woful banishment that is certain but to what degree of woe is most uncertain The Devils not long after this story in spight of their infidelity acknowledged him and trembled for fear which way he would send them Therefore they besought him that he would not send them into the depth In abyssum into that inestimable depth of woe in the nethermost Hell Luk. viii 31. And some do so interpret Get thee hence as if Satan before these Tentations were cast out of heaven into the earth but from this time that Christ rebuked him and bid him avant further he was cast from the earth into the lowest darkness They are questions not to be heeded which some move whether the Prince of the air were bound fast by these words that he should hurt the earth no more by his own person but by his instruments Or rather whether not until anon before our Saviours Passion at those words Now shall the Prince of this world be cast forth Or whether the binding is to be accounted from some other time Apoc. xx Tyrannis vivit tyrannus occidit Whether the great dragon so called be chained up or not God knows his tyranny and mischief lives in the power of other instruments all the Church of God knows that by experience Fifthly These words Get thee behind me Satan are our Saviours epinicium or Song of triumph that he hath conquered the Adversary both for his own peace and kingdoms sake and for the members of his body So many gross sins were reformed throughout all the world from this time forward especially in the redress of Idolatry that some say the malicious weapons of Satan are rebated and their edge taken off Indeed if it be meant with this distinction that follows the doctrine is acceptable the Devil hath less power since Christ came unto us in the flesh then he had before Non quod demonum sit imminuta virtus sed quod fidelibus per Christum abundantior concessa est gratia The Devils are as malicious as instant as operative as cunning as ever they were but since the holy Ghost hath put upon us the Armour of light since grace hath abounded through Christ we are better able to resist our Ghostly Enemies To conclude all whosoever is tempted of his own evil concupiscence let him spend no time to please himself with the first motions of sin but let him rebuke his own heart instantly in these words Apage Satana get thee hence away depart from me Satan Conjure
it from the Persians remember how powerful and wonderfully God made the Philistins restore the Ark again but far from any purpose to have it religiously worshipped The material Figure of the Cross was never in common use till Constantine's days then it was reared up as the Trophy of Christ who had subdued all things to himself Indeed the transient Sign of the Cross stricking their hand or finger thwart through the air was in great use in very ancient times that you know being a transient whiffing of the hand could not be adored but they used it to keep safeguard over every member of their body and to drive away Devils They had some cause I suppose to make an operative sign of it in those days when God was present with them by miracles Our reason and experience tells us that now they are ceased so that we step not after them in that imitation And being but an adiaphorus Ceremony they are too blame that affect it in our Church further then where it is commanded in Baptism for I do ever guide my self in this case by that rule which St. Austin saies St. Ambrose taught him use such Ceremonies and no other as that particular Church hath appointed wherein you are there are no banks to keep us in order if that be contradicted This may suffice to be spoken against them that deceive themselves in voluntary humility and worship toward the Cross of Christ to maintain which superstition the Pontificians contend sharply with words to uphold the next Idolatrous Tenet they have fought against us cruelly with fire and sword 't is their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their adoring the Bread or Wafer-cake consecrated but they say transubstantiated in the Lords Supper This opinion is their Basilisk that hath murdered so many holy Martyrs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that set their hearts against it To make their Divinity seem devout and plausible it walks upon two crutches First it claims right from the new Philosophy of Transubstantiation saying that Christ in his whole manhood is carnally and corporeally there under the species of the Elements Secondly that the Lords Supper is not only a Sacrament wherein Christ gave himself in bread and wine to his Disciples but also a Sacrifice offering himself under those Elements or their species to his Father at that time upon which far-rooted error the Priest doth offer Christ every day to God in the Mass and having it in his belief that it is an Expiatory Sacrifice both for quick and dead all that are present fall down at the Elevation and worship the Hostia But if there be neither Transubstantiation nor any such external Expiatory Sacrifice in the Lords Supper their practice without more question is confessed Idolatry I will not take a large swing to dispute upon such copious matters but briefly by what conjecture or divination can the wit of man make a Sacrifice of it Did Christ do any more than give thanks and bless the Elements and then brake and gave to his Disciples to eat and bad them do the like for ever in remembrance of him upon which of these clauses can a Sacrifice be grounded St. Paul says it is appointed unto men once to die so that is by death Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many Attend saies the Adversary He offered himself but once the Priest may offer him oftner nay but if he offered himself to his Father in his last Supper and again at his death upon the Cross He must offer himself twice and that 's repugnant to Scripture But we are told the Paschal Lamb was both Sacrament and Sacrifice it is not denied yet thus it is truly resolv'd As the Paschal Lamb was ordeined to be eaten in remembrance of Deliverance and Redemption so it answers to the Lords Supper but as the Beast was a bloody Sacrifice slain to God so it answers to Christ on the Cross the Scripture confirms it for when Christ was dead before the Souldiers came to break his legs the Type of the Paschal Lamb is called to mind not a bone of him shall be broken But were it a Sacrifice as it is but the Commemoration of a Sacrifice yet it proves not adoration it hangs all upon the slender thread of Transubstantiation which will quickly break as when a spark of fire lights upon a thread of Flax. For St. Paul calls it bread five times in one Chapter after Consecratian This doth not evince us say the Romanists for there are examples to match this that many things converted into new substances carry their former names Aarons rod which became a serpent is yet called a rod. Adam saith of Eve she was bone of his bone The Governor is said to taste of the water which was made wine so St. Paul calls the Host bread because it had been bread yet after consecration it is not Well I say these instances are not matches First Eve was made out of the bone the serpent of the substance of the rod the wine of the substance of water and therefore propter materiam ex quâ they are called Synechdochically what they had been but is Christs body made of the bread productivè so they were wont to speak indeed then it is not that Christ who was made of the substance of the blessed Virgin for their Christ is made out of bread No now they philosophize that it is adductivè all the substance of bread is annihilated and Christ's body fills that place which it had Secondly in the rod in that bone in the water when the substances were changed new accidents resulted from the new form but here are the accidents of bread and wine palpable to all the senses Surely if God by his omnipotency would cause the colour and taste and scent and moisture and thickness of bread and wine to be there without their substances He would have given that gift to the faithful receivers that they should have tasted none of those creatures to contradict his mighty work which were a far less miracle than the other And how can they so abstract but they shall terminate religious worship to the external species of bread if they look upon it and thereby remember Christs Passion and fall down to glorifie him for his benefits so will we but they profess Christs body to be in the Priests hand and there they worship him then the accidents of the Elements which remain are part of the Object which they adore a man may idolize meer colours I am sure where there is no substance as a Rainbow which is nothing but shadows of colours by reflexion may be idolized The word which we hear preacht is to be reverently received yet not adored now the Sacrament is but verbum visibile the Gospel of faith as well made visible to the eye as audible to the ear and God forbid but we should receive it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Paul saies worthily with due expression of outward
Ruby and Saphir but the colour of the Diamond cannot be well called by any name there is a white gloss and a sparkling flame mixt together which shine fairly but render no constant colour So we cannot say what manner of shew the Rayment of our Saviour did make These two did concur to the composition of the beauty Candor lux A whiteness mixed with no shadow a light bedimmed with no darkness It was white and glistering says our Evangelist White as the light says St. Matthew And his face being bright as the Sun his rayment exceeding white as the snow says St. Mark these two make such a medley that no Painter can think how to ground a colour to resemble it Altera pars de coelo splendidior sole altera de terrâ candidior nive The Divine Nature of Christ is from heaven and that exceeds the very Sun in the heaven in brightness His Humane Nature is from the earth beneath and that did exceed the very snow upon the earth in whiteness They had more fancy than sure foundation for their doctrine that grounded upon this place how the bodies of the righteous when they are risen and stand at Gods right hand shall not abide naked but be overcast with a Regal Robe of excellency Neither will it help that they fetch a proof Rev. vi 11. that the souls under the Altar had white Robes given to adorn them to make the true interpretation of these things more passable First I will speak of the alteration in Christs Garment then of the candor and whiteness It is well known in holy Scripture that Christ is called our garment and that as many as are true members of the Church are called Christs Garment Gal. iii. 27. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ There the Saviour of mankind is our Robe Now we read of the conversion of the Gentiles and their being gathered into the Church Isa xlix 18. Lift up thine eyes round about and behold all these gather themselves together and come unto thee As I live saith the Lord thou shalt surely cloath thee with them all as with an ornament As Charity useth to be painted full of young children some hanging upon her Arms some upon her Brests So the Son of God is love it self and all his Children lay fast hold upon him and hang about him as a Vesture covers the body these are his Garment which shall shine for his sake in the Kingdom of heaven for ever Cornelia the mother of the Gracchi was visited by a great Lady in Rome who came in a specious fashion with her Chains of Pearl and Ear rings and Jewels about her Cornelia expected till her Sons came home who demeaned themselves before her with awful dutie and fit obeysance and to these she points saying Hi sunt gemmae meae torques monilia mea These are my Jewels and my Pendants that adorn me At such a value Christ accounts all those that live in him by faith these are his Garment which is white and glistering and no Fuller upon Earth can make a thing so white no earthly felicity can be comparable with that heavenly glory Philosophers and Heathen Orators these are Fullers upon earth their wits are not able to reach to the imagination of that spiritual joy which Christ hath prepared for them that fear him And they that have a Pharisaical opinion to be justified by their own works these are Fullers upon earth that would make all clean by the Art of man Alas it lies not in our skill in our endeavours in our righteousness it is Christ that can present a Church all glorious not having spot or wrinkle he will set us as a Signet upon his arm and as a seal upon his right hand he will wear us as a robe of dignity and bedeck us with grace and glory so that no Fuller on earth can make a thing so white There are three things metaphorically called Garments in whose whiteness and purity consists the perfection of all our happiness Stola sanctitatis justificationis gloriae 1. Here is the fair Robe of sanctity and innocency in the first place as God says of some good ones in the Church of Sardis Rev. iii. 4. They have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white They had not defiled their Garments that is they had not spotted their Conscience with uncleanness Therefore the Primitive Church emblematically did stir up such as were baptized to righteousness and holiness of life by enjoyning them that Ceremony to wear white Garments at the time of their Baptism Accipe vestem candidam immaculatam quam perferas sine maculâ ante tribunal Domini says St. Ambrose Thou that comest to be made a Christian take this white unstained garment and keep it unspotted unto the day of the Lord. 2. There is the robe of Justification when God looks upon us not as we are in our selves but as we are cloathed with the merits of Jesus Christ Non est breve pallium it is no scanty short Cloak which will not come down to the foot but it reacheth over all from our conception to our death it is spread over all our sins both original and actual and hides all our deformities Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ O fair nuptial garment which will bring us into the Bride-chamber of the Bridegroom for ever 3. The robe of justification makes us fit to be invested with the robe of glory That eternal life which we desire and expect is moralized in the name of a white garment because such apparel was used among the Jews upon occasion of gladness The Wiseman commending a life which was always led in mirth and alacrity without lumpish austerity says he Let thy garments be always white and let thy head lack no oyntment And because the life of Angels and Saints shall be nothing but singing of Psalms and pleasance and festivity before God for evermore therefore the Angels appeared in long white garments in our Saviours Sepulchre Mark xvi 5. And to express that eternity of joy which we shall have in bliss Christ would not be transfigured without this circumstance that his rayment was white and glistering Albedo vitae puritatem splendor doctrinae eminentiam significat That Allusion shall be noted to conclude this Point whiteness commends a pure and an innocent life glistering commends the word of truth in the holy Scripture that it is as clear as the Sun at noon-day But it is not an outside of purity which will stand the trial before God Hypocrites may go in sheeps cloathing a fair and a clean nap may be upon their coat without when their inside is a ravening Wolf So Hereticks will parget their Doctrine over with plausible reasons I perhaps through the power of Satan they will shine with miracles but take heed you do not worship their Idol because it shines like Gold Haeretici falsa dogmata
shalt die in the Mount whither thou goest up and be gathered unto thy people as Aaron thy Brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered unto his people therefore if Aaron died as we know he did Moses was not translated that he might not see death Nay the next opinion is more probable than so which takes away the offence which the former opinion gives and attributes great honor to Moses namely it consents as it ought to do that Moses died and that God by the ministry of his Angels did lay down his Body for a while to be buried in the Land of Moab but it did not abide in the earth there to be corrupted but was presently restored to life again and translated to immortality and because he did not abide in death therefore it is said that no man knoweth of his Sepulcher unto this day I draw to this side the rather because in the ninth verse of St. Judes Epistle the Angel did contend and dispute with the Devil about the Body of Moses Some say the contention was that the Angel bound the Devil not to reveal where his Body was buried lest the children of Israel finding it out should venerate and adore his Sepulcher and run into Idolatry Some say because the Angel buried him against Bethpheor which was a place of most diabolical Idolatry and Satan strugled not to be turned out of that place by the burial of this holy man I see no incongruity to say because the Angel did not only contend but dispute says Jude not about the Burial but about the Body that the argument was why the Body of Moses should be restored to life and not rot and putrify in the dust This opinion is maintained by Luther by Brentius and by the Jesuit Maldonat and it puts all in good square to defend and it may be done for ought I see without any absurdity that the Body of Moses was reserved in immortality with the Body of Elias and both were in all readiness to come to our Saviours Transfiguration Yet a number of Doctors have a fourth strein that Moses his Body was gathered by the power of God just at this time out of the dust and he took it up so long as this miracle lasted and then laid it down again and either resumed it shortly after when our Saviour rose from the dead for then many dead bodies of the Saints arose and appeared unto many in the holy City or else he awaits Gods leisure to be cloathed with his flesh for ever at the solemn and general Resurrection This cannot be gainsaid for nothing is irksom to Gods Saints which most conduceth to their Masters glory Yet once I must speak again that there is a fifth opinion and most commonly defended That Moses his own Body was reunited at this time to his Soul and that it did abide with him for ever and he did never lay it down more If we keep not this Opinion steady it will be much shaken with this Objection That Christ is commonly known by this property to be the first who rose from the dead to die no more The first-born from the dead Colos i. 18. The first-fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. xv 20. Some answer he is the first of them that rose from the dead as he is said to be the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world He was crucified from the beginning of the world and rose from death from the beginning not actually but virtually for the power of his Death and Resurrection were available ever since the Promise was made Secondly he is Primogenitus the First-born the strength the might of them that rise for he rose by his own will and virtue all beside him not by their own power but by the power of Christ But I shall neither satisfie my self nor you with an answer till I add a third thing that Christ was the first-fruits of them that rose from the dead and ascended up with his Body before the Majesty of the glory of the Most High For here I must bring in a very fit distinction though not used by many that it is one thing to make a Body change corruption into incorruption so shall all our Bodies be when they are raised from the dead another thing to make our vile Bodies be changed into glorified Bodies that shall not be till they are exalted into the highest Heavens Elias his Body being translated was incorruptible so was Moses his Body if he had it before the Transfiguration or if he retained it after but Christ Jesus was the first of them that rose from the dead whose glorified Body entred into the highest places I have been very brief in this intricate Controversie which is so stiffly disputed of all sides and it will make the next point come off more easie From whence Moses and Elias came to talk with Christ at his Transfiguration I conclude out of the former question that Elias was translated up on high in Soul and Body that 's indubitable and that Moses rose out of his Grave and assumed his own Body at this instant Miracle of all opinions that I take it is most probable Therefore I say Elias came down from whence he was ascended before and Moses rose up from whence he was descended before So the Son of God did demonstrate says S. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he had the power in his hand both of life and death By Moses says Aquinas are represented all those Saints whose bodies from the beginning of the world to the end lye buried in the dust by Elias are understood the whole stock of men and women that shall be found at Christs second coming living upon the earth and both kinds shall be summoned to appear before him Oh that we may come from heaven to meet him as Elias did that we may shine with repentance and faith and charity these are the characters of them that shall be bold to stand before the Son of God in Majesty and they that have these endowments do as it were come from heaven with Elias to meet our Saviour But to the point we make no scruple from whence Moses his Body came to mount Tabor from whence but from the dust of the earth the difficult question will be out of what place of sequestration Elias came with his Body To which briefly as I am able to conjecture not to certifie you St. Cyprian was not earnest to enquire it when he left it off thus quo raptus sit Elias Deus novit whither Elias was taken up God knows yet sure he means he had not been taught nor could teach into what Region of Heaven he was assumed yet he never doubted but he was in some Canton of that Celestial Habitation The Scripture says no more of Enoch but he walked with God and he was not for God took him Gen. v. 24. But of Elias in plain words that he went up in a whirlwind to Heaven The
I have read unto you I am proceeded in this subject and by so much as I have read in these two Verses St. Luke hath more than the other two Evangelists to wit that Moses and Elias talked about Christs sufferings in Jerusalem and that Peter James and John were asleep and waking of a sudden were startled at the transmutation I have spoke severally the last day in what bodies Moses and Elias did appear now I proceed to these persons that appear And because I must not break the joynts of an History I take the parts whole thus First With what fitness these two were presented rather than any other for celestial witnesses Moses and Elias Secondly What they meant by this communication to speak of his Passion and Sufferings They spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem Thirdly That the earthly Witnesses Peter James and John were asleep at the beginning of this Miracle But Peter and they that were with him were heavie with sleep Fourthly The mists of drowziness were dispelled they did awake and then they saw the Vision and as the next Verse will prove it they heard the conference To these do you give Attention and I my Exposition The Lord did not pick twain out of so great an host of blessed Spirits to stand upon Mount Thabor but that there was some hability and fitness in their persons rather than in any other And the first mark eminently stampt upon them for this work is this The Law and Prophets do equally and concordiously bear witness to Christ Moses the first handler and publisher of the Law Elias the greatest by far of all the Prophets O Elias how wast thou honoured in thy wondrous deeds And who may glory like unto thee Ecclus. xlviii 4. As the Kings Coin is stampt on both sides so the Gospel like a piece of currant Metal is engraven on the one side with the ancient testimony of the Law on the other side with the strong Predictions of the Prophets Says Philip to Nathanael We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the Son of Joseph Joh. i. 45. But Peter might go further and say We have seen him attended and waited on by Moses and the Prophets The Law and the Prophets and the Gospel make good Musick when they are three parts of one song but if you make several Airs or several Ditties of them you mar all good harmony We see Moses and the Son of God together says St. Ambrose so often as we read that portion of St. Matthew Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy might We see Elias and the Son of God together so often as we read that desire inflamed to maintain Gods honour I have been very zealous for the Lord of hosts 1 Kings xix 8. That zeal made Elias fast forty days and eat nothing And Christ doth answer it again The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up O how amiable it is to unite Moses and the Prophets and the grace of Christ all together to look upon them in one prospect to enterline the Old Testament with the New But if you part Moses from the Prophets or the Prophets from Moses or both from Christ you shall not find any glory in them The Samaritans received no Scripture but the Books of Moses The Jews receive none but Moses and the Prophets The Christian puts them all together and so Moses and Elias appear with Christ in glory And although many things are very difficult to be understood in the Old Testament in some places we do see Moses plainly in some places he is hard to be understood yet this Miracle gives us comfort that in the holy Hill of God in the glorification of heaven there we shall see Moses and Elias all that is wrote in the Law and the Prophets very clearly and that one jot or tittle is not perished which the Penmen of holy Writ did foretell should come to pass For example in Exod. xx 19. the Children of Israel cry out to Moses Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us least we die To this demand God makes a full and explicite answer Deut. xviii 18. They have well spoken I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee they shall hear him Here is a middle way difficult to be understood neither would God speak unto them in thunder to terrifie them and Moses could not abide always to be their Speaker as they would have it but a Prophet should come like unto Moses like unto him in humane nature but far more admirable in grace and power Why behold this dark mystery is expounded at this Transfiguration for Moses is brought to confess of Christ this is the Prophet spoken of like unto me whom you are bound to hear For the glory which was seen now the affrightment which took the Disciples the bright cloud which overshadowed the place all these hapned now even as it was at Mount Sinah call to mind what Covenant was then made and how this is the time to fulfil it Thus you see how Christs glory makes the Law and the Prophets intelligible which is the first reason why Moses and Elias did appear in glory Secondly These are they that had undergone many sorrows upon earth for the defence of their God and after much tribulation did win the crown of life in whose faces the Disciples might behold that through fire and water through cross and calamity through ignominy and dishonour we must enter into glory None so famous for exposing their lives to all dangers as Moses and Elias There was but a Bulrush between Moses and death when he was set afloat to be drowned in his tender infancy And if Jezebel and all her Gods could cut Elias throat she swore he should not have a day to live 1 Kings xix 2. What sharp encounters had the one with Pharaoh What dismal threatnings did the other denounce against Ahab The one was driven out rudely and violently from the presence of Pharaoh The other banished himself into the Wilderness and could not be found for three years Here were a fit couple that could shew their long Pedigrees of afflictions to be called the Sons of God These were fit indeed to preach of Christs Cross and of his sufferings at Jerusalem They that suffered much might aptly and confidently commend the sufferings of the body to the Disciples Si vis me flere dolendum est primùm ipsi tibi And here John and James the two ambitious brethren might see of what condition it behoved those men to be who in our Saviours Kingdom should sit the one at his right hand the other at his left What had they done for their Lords sake as yet when they askt that bold demand but to walk with him in Judea to travel from place
for the profit of my Soul rather than upon all the eloquence and wit in the world There is more to be learnt by meditating upon his Passion seriously and devoutly one day than by ripping up all other needless questions through the whole year Si Christum discis satis est si caetera nescis Si Christum nescis nihil est si caetera discis Says the Old Verse If you have learnt Christ crucified for thy sins do not bewail thy ignorance simple Soul though thou knowest no more if thou hast not learnt his sufferings and that with his stripes thou art healed bewail thy knowledg great Master of Arts and Sciences though except that one thing thou hast learned all And what though you fix your speculations upon Christ himself yet all is in vain that you can preach of Christ until you set your notions afloat upon his blood and sail down to this out of all that he was crucified for our transgressions If you be not enemies to his Cross you will easily agree with the truth of the whole Gospel if you do not agree with his Cross as with the only cause by which we obtain salvation you will be an enemy to all the truth of the Gospel Turn this key right that we are justified from our sins by his blood shedding and all is open wrench the door with any other key as if we would pick open the lock of Heaven gates with our own sufferings and righteousness and all is shut Surely St. Paul did pattern his preaching by this Copy of Moses and Elias 1 Cor. ii 2. I determined not to know any thing among you saving Jesus Christ and him crucified Secondly Yes indeed this was fit communication for Paul to impart nothing else to the Corinthians who did abound with the Greek Philosophy and eloquence and it sorted the better to speak of nothing but the sorrows of our Lord while fears and persecutions and death did daily environ them but in my next Observation it shall appear that this discourse was well chosen rather than any other at the Transfiguration of glory here was nothing upon the Mountain but celestial joy and in the height of this joy no other talk to entertain the time but about a Cross and about a woful tribulation If our sorrow be not enlightned with some joy it will turn to a melancholick desperation so if our joy be not dampt with the sadness and seriousness of some sorrow it will fly out into excess and presumption The Graecians did not allow their frisking Lydian Musick to be playd without the gravity of the Dorique Instruments which they called in one name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So David tun'd this mixture upon his Harp Psal ii 11. Serve the Lord in fear and rejoyce unto him with reverence Surely Peter and the other Apostles thought they were past all the bitter storms and frowns of the world where the place whereon they stood was more bedeckt with beauty than ever they had read of Paradice as if God had rained down Heaven upon Earth their mind was filled with this saying and their lips in the next verse spake nothing less Give us the Kingdom which is prepared for us give us the fruition of thy glory Nay hold and take this before Priùs de calice cogitate quà m de regno Drink of my cup before you reign in my Kingdom hear Moses and Elias preach of my Cross before you be enthronized among the Elders to sing praises unto the Lamb for evermore But was this a gratulatory Oration fit for the Prophets to make to Christ in the brightness of his Excellency did He love to hear of this above any thing that He should die an ignominious death at Jerusalem yes it was as the most pleasant thing to our Saviour and none so acceptable to be spoken of When a poor woman annointed his head with ointment in the house of Simon the Leper he defends her for it against the indignation of his Disciples says He In that she poured this ointment on my body she did it for my Burial I have a Baptism to be baptized with and how I am straitned till it be accomplished Luke xii 50. never was such haste made to any place as he made to Mount Calvarie there past but a little time from midnight to midday betwixt his Attachment his Arraignment and his Execution as if his feet had stood upon thorns until his head were crowned with them The content he took in those torments is thus laid forth in St. Paul who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross Heb. xii 2. A certain Author makes an elegant comparison between that triumph when Christ rode upon an Ass to Jerusalem and between this triumph of the Transfiguration on Mount Thabor Infesto palmarum illacrymat considerans mala nostra in hoc festo mirabiliter exultat recolens mala sua Though he was then received with Palm branches and shoutings yet he wept upon Jerusalem to consider their sins at this Feast he is all glorious and rejoyceth for our sakes to hear the commemoration of his own sorrows And thirdly it must not be forgotten how Moses and Elias were those chosen Orators which spake of his decease that he should accomplish at Jerusalem all that was mystical in the Types and Shadows of Moses Law all that was darkly delivered in the deep style of the Prophets concerning this passion is explained against the teeth of the Jews Moses and Elias came to interpret themselves Moses say the Fathers saw what medicine and healing was in the cross when he lift up the brazen Serpent in the Wilderness to cure the people that were stung and wounded and Prudentius in a sweet versifying way that Moses learnt how all spiritual foes Death Satan Sin and Hell should be vanquisht by the Cross when by the stretching out of his hands the Amalekites were destroyed in Battel by the Children of Israel Passis in altum brachiis sublimis Amalech premit crucis quod instar tum fuit Again they make the same Commentation upon Elias that he laid his body upon the Childs body his hands upon the Childs hands which he brought to life again even as Christ did stretch himself out upon the Cross and hath quickned us being dead in our sins having forgiven us all our trespasses Colos ii 13. and not us only who have been born since the time that his blood was actually shed but all those who lived with the Fathers under the Law and from the beginning of the world who did believe to escape eternal death by the blood of that Sacrifice which should be offered up upon the Tree of malediction A strange Medicament that the drops of this sacred bloud should cure so many millions before it self was extant If an Herbalast say he will make a Panacaea a rare juice of salutiferous roots the next year can it cure this Spring yet the Remedy of the Cross
which came to pass in after ages did as well cure the faithful in the former as in the latter world 't is never too soon to believe and seek after Christ never too late to believe and repent Moses and Elias are Proxies for all those who died before the coming of Christ that it was beneficial and pleasant to them to have this communication that He should die at Jerusalem Libenter exules de reditu in patriam loquuntur by our own just demerits and by the sin contracted in our first Parents Moses and Elias and all the Sons of Adam were justly exiled from the joys of Paradise but do thou suffer O Lamb of God and thou wilt open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers Tell me if it were not joyful to banished men to speak of those means which should restore them to a Kingdom This was the last thing that their Soul did meditate upon earth upon the meditation of his passion they as we also ought to do did shut up their last breath and this is the first thing which they have to say when God did grant them tongues to speak in the Resurrection Discamus ea in terris quorum scientia nobis perseveret in coelis says St. Hierom Let us learn such good lessons here upon earth whose knowledg may remain with us hereafter in the Kingdom of Heaven Here it is remorseful fit it should be so to think of his agony and passion because our sins are before us those very Judasses which betrayed him in the society of Angels the case is altered there it is no sad discourse to speak of it for the guiltiness of our sins doth no more infest our memory every thing that the Lord willeth is pleasant and acceptable to us therefore in my fourth Notation Moses and Elias speak of Christs sufferings in no disconsolatory phrase but much to our comfort that it was a decease and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem Fourthly A mitigating word to lenify a harsh sound of a most dreadful thing The Heathen men did love to do and to speak couragiously and yet they who know no worse by death than that it was the cessation of our being or the dissolution of Soul and Body did describe it by the most judicious Pen that ever wrote among them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of terrors the most terrible what if they had known the Scriptures that God spake in his anger that it is the wages of sin and unless mercy prevent judgment that it is a departure into endless misery But get up courage again O frail mortality the Son of God through death hath overcome death the Serpent hath lost his sting As willingly as a Passenger deceaseth or departeth from a strange place to his own home with such quietness and composed satisfaction of mind we go from hence for ever where we shall have an abiding City Be not unfurnisht for a sudden journey if God call but say with Simeon Lord I am ready to depart in peace Tully said that a worthy man in a good old age made no more than an exit or a decease out of a Theater with a plaudite The Scripture varies the name of death in good words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a tranquil rest Blessed are they that die in the Lord they rest from their labours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sound sleep our brother Lazarus sleepeth Jo. xi Sometimes it hath the title of an exaltation As Moses lifted up the brazen Serpent in the wilderness so shall the Son of man be lifted up And my Text names it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a decease as the Prophet hath called that Book which entreats of the Children of Israel's departure out of Egypt Exodus their decease out of that Country of captivity and slavery so if your soul cleave not too much to the dust of the earth death is no Bugbear no quivering meditation but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as joyful a decease to us as that was to them a departure out of bondage and misery O what death can be dreaded since Moses and Elias spake so mildly of the death of Christ Had his daies been cut off without all pain sorrow or ignominy take the Proposition thus barely without amplification of his wounds and sufferings mortuus est pro peccatoribus he died for sinners the just for the unjust who could sufficiently estimate the dear price of his payment or the miserable contract of our debt Mortiferum fuit quod non nisi morte Christi sanari potuit the wound of sin in our Soul was very mortal which made the Immortal die to cure it Lord it is not one Soul in every man nor ten thousand understandings and cogitations in that Soul which can cast up the estimation of that matchless benefit How much more when Christs death is dispread into a full description of all circumstances the longest Gospels by seven parts in all the Church Service are read upon the Passion and yet more must be conceiv'd than can be wrote of it in the largest Folio Yet I will print that Breviary of St. Paul in my memory to read it day and night Galat. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us for it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree But that eternal life which he purchased to us thereby hath candied over the bitterness of death and it is called by a soft gentle word a decease and spake of his decease which he should accomplish c. Fifthly If as I intend to speak in the fifth place all the circumstances of his death were opened Peter and the rest did hear what manner of decease it was There were many Pikes to be passed through a complete order of afflictions to be undergon and accomplisht Fat Bulls of Basan have compassed me on every side His miseries stood round about him and Gods predeterminate counsel was the circle there was no moving out till every enemy had spent his spight upon him so many stripes and wounds foretold in several Psalms so many sharp pangs and doleances commemorated in several Chapters and he could not give up the ghost till all these things were come about and every jot of the Scripture fulfilled St. John hath set this down with the accurate wisdom of the Holy Ghost to be admired Joh. xx 28. Christ hanging upon the Cross had power to lay down his life at any minute at the first twitch of pain and though weariness and the agony of sweat and the torments he sustained made him very dry yet he could have died in that thirst and never call'd for drink But after all things in the Scripture were fulfilled one verse of David was unsatisfied They gave me vinegar to drink Psal lxix 2. therefore He cries out I thirst and having received no better than vinegar he bears testimony that then all Prophecies about his Passion were
industry that can attain to such excellent things but by Gods grace and clemency Yet we must not think to fold onr arms together and sleep out our time with Solomons Sluggard and yet be made happy we must awake from sin before we receive the hope and comfort of that future glory in this life and we must awake from death before we can see God and his glory face to face hereafter O that we could awake from the sluggishness of the flesh and open our eyes illuminated by faith then we should see many admirable mysteries which now pass away from our knowledg and we never seek them out Wake thou that sleepest stand up from the dead and Christ shall give thee light There is an eye-salve of Prayer and humility and long-suffering in these dayes of trial to dispel the mists of darkness which obscure our faith and when we awake up after thy likeness O blessed Jesus we shall be satisfied with it AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON The Transfiguration LUKE ix 33. And it came to pass as they departed from him Peter said unto Jesus Master it is good for us to be here and let us make three Tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias not knowing what he said UPon my entrance into the handling of this beautiful miracle of the Transfiguration we found Christ at Prayer and he continued in that exercise by himself alone for he needed not to have his Petition recommended to his Father by any other mouth by any Intercessor in Heaven or Earth He indeed prays for every mans wants but in all the Gospel throughout no man prays for him Pro quo nullus interpellat sed ipse pro omnibus hic unicus verusque mediator est says St. Austin He in whose behalf no man sollicits the Father to bless him and he whose Lips bless every man this is the true and only Mediator of Mankind But though we found Christ at Prayer yet we did not find his Apostles waking to say Amen If God be for us who can be against us Rom. viii 31. I answer the Apostle though God be for us all a man may be his own Enemy and fight against himself Christ was occupied in Prayer Who could be against Peter when his Master was on his side But Peter slept while his Master prayed therein he was against himself Thrice our Saviour rose from Prayer in the Garden and found him sleeping therefore the watchful Cock was a sign unto him soon after that he had denied his Master thrice So to lay this upon our own building if the three Disciples whom Christ took with him to Mount Thabor had imployed their time in watchfulness and Religion as their Master did doubtless the Lord had guided their understanding in the right way but because they laid them down to rest when they should have prayed and did not lift up their hands as an Evening Sacrifice therefore the Lord sent upon them the Spirit of slumber Rom. xi 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an imagination as dark as the darkness of Egypt in which they could discern nothing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aquila reads it Isa xxix 10. a strong drowziness which is in the manner of a Lethargy a Spirit of error and stupidity Loe what words do come from Peter in my Text let him shake himself as Samson did when he came out of sleep and he shall find that the Spirit of the Lord was gone from him He did not watch and pray that he might not fall into error therefore he slept and fell into error that he might pray to come out of it Because his tongue was tied when it ought to speak therefore when he began to speak he knew not what he said And that shall appear unto you both this day and once again God willing upon this whole Verse which I have read At this present I have bounded my meditations to go but half way It came to pass as they departed from him Peter said unto Jesus Master it is good for us to be here All this matter must not be drawn into an heap but into this order 1. What came to pass which caused Peter to speak now when he had been silent before Why Moses and Elias were taking their leave and he would have retained them It came to pass as they departed from him Peter said 2. To whom he did direct his speech not to his fellow servants Moses and Elias but to his Master Peter said unto Jesus Master 3. That his Disciple went about to teach his Master in the words following Master it is good for us to be here Those being the words of especial use to spend our time upon I will enlarge my self to shew that they contain three things to be well allowed and six things to be doubted of that I may not say condemned 1. At the first blush that he saw Christ in glory he said it was bonum he was excellently delighted with it for the glory of the Gospel is no affrighting thing but a delectable object 2. He said true it was bonum nobis good for us for God doth shew his glory for us and for our satisfaction 3. It is as true that it is very good to be continually present with his glory and never part from it O it is the best of all goods to enter into the joy of our Master Thus far he built upon a Rock his foundation is infallible In the rest he builds upon the sands yet to censure the errors of so great an Apostle with modesty I will contrive all that is objected against him into six questions 1. An bonum non videre mortem Whether it were good for us not to see death 2. An bonum non affligi If it be good to remain in pleasure and not be afflicted 3. An bonum sit in terrâ manere Whether it could be good to dwell always upon the earth 4. An bonum sit quod paucis solummodo bonum Whether that can be a true good which is restrained to few Bonum nobis if it were not enlarged beyond those that were present 5. An bonum consistit in aspectu humanitatis Whether it could be the supreme good of man to behold the Humane Nature of Christ only beautified without the revelation of his divine glory 6. An bonum sit Christum non crucifigi If it could be good for them that Christ should entrench himself in Mount Tabor and never go to Mount Calvary to be crucified These are the parts of the Text not one to be spared They shall not trouble you with length though they do with multitude I begin with the occasion which moved Peter to speak it was the departure of the two Witnesses Factum est cum illi discederent ab eo dixit He was ever prompt to speak and now he could not hold when those two the most heroical Prophets that ever had lived did now come from another world and
there pride stood up stiff against the Lord here humility quaked and fell down before him a blessing is soon forgotten which is but tackt on with joy when fear drives a nail in it stays the faster in the memory Wherefore though fear doth argue sin to be in man for none would fear but such as are liable to punishment yet oftentimes it is a good work wrought upon a bad ground and is rather a Gift than a Scourge of God Such as it was and a great fear it was yet Christ did bear with it in his Disciples he would not break a bruised reed he would not reject them for a little infirmity for howsoever now they did both sleep and were afraid at his Transfiguration yet he ventures once more and tries them again calling none other but these same Peter and James and John when he prayed and fell into an agony in the Garden Beloved do you bear with the weak and the Lord will strengthen you Now this fear of the Apostles was not only in the perplexedness of their thoughts or in the paleness of their face but it cast them down to the ground They fell on their face Matth. xvii 6. And here is another Moral worth the marking The higher we reach and know not what measure is fit for us the sooner we catch a fall even now Peter would have been exalted to the fellowship of Christs glory for ever being but a sinful mortal man and with this aspiring thought presently he sinks to the earth Quantò quis ampliora quaesirit tantò magis ad inferiora collabitur says Aquinas none so like to tumble to the lowest place as they that seek things too much above them too far from their comprehension Babel was too lofty a Building therefore the Builders were scattered abroad and made most contemptible by the confusion of tongues Adonijah besought Solomon so proud a request that he asked his own head off Great things are gay but small things are securest Beside this very posture of theirs is a dumb Sermon enough to teach them wit and therefore our Saviour gave no answer to the motion Master it is good for us to be here it sufficed that when they would have climbed up into glory without more trouble or alteration they fell down flat and measured their length upon the earth as who should say the Earth expects your body the Grave requires your flesh before you can be Resiants with your Master in glory to see his face for ever therefore when St. John saw Christ in his Majesty he did not forget what he had done at Mount Thabor before but says he Revel i. 17. Cecidi ante pedes quasi mortuus When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead It is not this life that is capable of enjoying such excellency death must be the passage to let us see such happiness only this was the difference the usual manner of burial is for the face to look up towards Heaven as expecting at the first moment of the resurrection to see God now the Disciples grovell'd with their face upon the ground as not being worthy to expect his glory so soon as those that are already laid in the dust Now because we read of the High Priests Servants Joh. xviii 6. that as soon as Christ had said unto them whom seek ye I am He they went backward and fell to the ground therefore Gregory from one instance makes a large note Sancti in facie cadere solent impii retrorsum that the good Servants of God use to fall upon their face when they are afraid wicked men are overturned backward when they are terrified and yet we read 1 Sam. xvii 49. that when David's stone sunk into Goliah's forehead he fell upon his face to the earth Indeed the falling upon the face is a gesture of adoration in the living Abram fell on his face and God talked with him Gen. xvii 3. Joshua fell on his face and did worship saying What saith my Lord unto his Servant Jos v. 14. So Ezekiel When I saw an appearance of the likeness of the glory of God I fell on my face chap. i. 28. The Samaritan fell down on his face at our Saviours feet Luke xvii 16. nay the Devil when he would make himself a God put in this condition si cadens adoraveris if thou wilt fall down and worship me We are so far from these gestures of reverence and humility now-a-days that you would think that Christian half mad or to be a great Hypocrite that would hurl himself down to the ground to pray to God that were sordid and dusty would some people say If you refrain Adoration to save good Apparel I pray you wear worse Cloaths and put on better affections To stand upright and pray to sit and pray to lean and pray these are more for your own ease than Gods honor I have heard some say that upright men and sitters were a kind of Canters but I never heard they were a kind of Christians I have left my self says God 7000 knees that have not bowed to Baal as if every knee would bow either to God or Baal that man that will not kneel to God worships his own perverseness and imaginations and though he worship neither Stock nor Stone yet because he stoops not to God as he ought he stoops to his own fancies and therein is an Idolater To knit this to the Text I doubt not but the three Disciples did do homage and reverence to Gods glory before them and therefore Beza says upon their falling on their face fortasse proni adorarunt it may be they did bow themselves down in adoration yet fear was more predominant in them at this time than reverence and Christ said arise be not afraid putting them two together And so far upon the Passion of fear in the Disciples both in the inward and in the outward consideration You must now expect to hear of the Object which put them into fear and that 's a Cloud described by two proprieties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was a bright one says St. Matthew and it was a Cloud of covering and protection it overshadowed them but that which made them sorrowful as well as fearful was that the Cloud appeared as if it would wrap away Christ and Moses and Elias for they entred into it After you have heard of so great a fear will you not wonder I should begin with so small an occasion as nubes venit there came a Cloud How many do we see racking in the Sky every day which do never trouble us Holy Athanasius made it a Proverb that such vapours are no ways dreadful for so he did chear up his heart against his own persecution nubecula est cito transibit it was a Cloud which would disperse away and never hurt him But there is nothing so devoid of harm which will not afrighten the stoutest stomach if God direct it for a terror A still voice
hypocrite I am perswaded in the world that thinks his soul blank and to have no spot upon it Every man must go a little further to try what opinion he hath of his own righteousness Is the rumour of War or the fear of Pestilence or the calamity of a Famine in the Land This is a case to prove an humble Consessionary For if your heart smite you as if you knew enough by your self to provoke all that vengeance it is well you have made a strict examination But if you look about you to see who should blush first and take it to himself you are not in good terms with God and a good Conscience Behold what St. Peter preacheth the Heavens and the Earth are reserved for fire against the day of judgment Will an humble sinner lay his head upon his Pillow with the Prophet Jonas And suffer the rest of the Passengers to cast lots upon the trial and find him out that hath offended A true Disciple hath learnt that his wantonness hath subjected every Creature to vanity so that they must be purged by the fire of God Such a one will strive to put out the flame with tears of contrition which he and his Concupiscence have kindled in heaven and earth Finally you cannot be ignorant that there was Copiosa redemptio plenteous redemption in our Saviours Sufferings enough and to spare a man would thinks Suppose that fewer stripes had been laid upon his back fewer buffetings given him on the face fewer thorns platted upon his head I say had all this been spared but his death upon the Cross had not our ransom been sufficiently discharged O but perswade your Consciences every man in particular I beseech you that the overplus was paid for you and that your Bond must be cancelled out of the superfluity of his sufferings Bonarum mentium est ibi culpam agnoscere ubi culpa non est There is no hurt in that He that doth not look upon his own sins with that detestation that he would look upon those that multiplied ignominy upon Christ he hath wash'd his hands in Pilates Bason Now I proceed to shew what crime it is which Pilate would so much abandon it is the crying sin of Murder Innocens sanguinis I am innocent of bloud a fault which God would not pardon in Cain though he were the first-born in the Generations of men In the sin of bloud Jehoiada the Priest would not spare Athaliah the Mother of the King David would not spare it in Joab the Captain of his Host Jacob would not forgive it in his own Sons Simeon and Levy but did revile them in his blessing A fault which St. Austin looking upon the bare story doth tax in Moses for killing the Egyptian but St. Stephen defends him Acts vii that it was a courage inspired from God The life of any thing that bears Gods Image is to be gently handled For if the body be the Temple of the Holy Ghost then our soul is the Priest and to cast the Priest out of the Temple it is not only violence but profanation But above all the Heathen men were so tender to confess that bloud-guiltiness could obtain pardon that Socrates in Phaedon tells it upon his knowledge Animam quae caede alicujus polluta est fugit quisque though a murderous man upon better behaviour were admitted to the Elysian joys yet he lived solitary by himself and was quite abandoned The Philosopher Aristotle speaking what things those were which were not Enthymems for an Orator that is no fit subjects for a probable Argument excepts nothing but committing of murder for no Rhetorick can ever make so foul a sin to be plausible How God himself hath accustomed man for meekness and not for cruelty I will give you a short survey out of the holy Scripture before the Flood we had no food but herbs and fruits no blood was lawfully spilt that we read of for 1600 years except it were for sacrifice When flesh was allowed to our Table for after the Floud the green herb and the trees afforded not such nourishment as they had done before to eat with the blood from the Law until Christ was meat unhallowed Nay the Churches of the Gentiles were held unto that Ceremony by the Apostles Acts xv and long after the Apostles no man did eat either blood or strangled Gregory could say in his time Non diu est ex quo Christiani suffocatum aut sanguinem comederunt it was but yesterday in his time since that strict observation was cancelled and I hope we can all collect that if it was unlawful for the mouth to taste blood it was more execrable for the hand to spill it or for the heart to thirst for it When Lepers and blind men when sick folks that had Fevers nay when such as had Devils came to Christ he put forth his hand and toucht them and they were healed but the woman that had the bloody Issue put her own finger upon his Garment and our Saviour laid not his hand upon her Disease alone because it was an Issue of blood Now shame be it unto Christians to fall into deadly quarrels upon terms of Honour and count it reputation to shed blood when Pilat had the conscience to shun the infamy Surely he that thinks it a disparagement to receive the lye did never scan what Honour was unless he think it a far greater infamy to be a wilful Murderer Seneca gives it as a Character of the most pure and harmless Age of the World that there was no single Combats fought in fury no bloody Wars of seditious Princes odium omne in feras verterant all that they killed it was in hunting and having spent their anger upon their Game they were satisfied But no cruelty hath more offended the Church in all Seasons than exposings of mens lives to death in Sports and Recreations the adventuring of their young Champions to encounter wild Beasts to propound reward unto their Sword-players to kill each other upon their Theatres it could not but be a great eye-sore to all Christians that knew how precious every life was unto God for which the Son of God did pay his life Homo occiditur in hominis voluptatem scelus non tantum geritur sed docetur quid potest inhumanius quid acerbius dici they are the words of St. Cyprian A pleasure it is unto you barbarous Nations to see a mans throat cut with skill and dexterity you have Masters to teach it Schools to practise it and which is worst of all eyes which do not weep but smile to behold it But for your part Beloved enlarge your bowels with clemency and compassion as I would love to do good offices in Christian burial much the better for Josephs sake that took my Saviour from the Cross and laid him in his own Tomb so I would hate a bloody mind much the more for their sakes who did scourge and pierce his body Upon that
meditation I would resolve to be a true man where Pilat was an hypocrite and say in defiance of all the world c. The rather did this Deputy endeavour to clear himself of blood either because he had been taxed before for extreme severity The Galilaeans were rebellious and he mingled their own blood with their Sacrifice it was that as some conjecture which put enmity between him and Herod or rather he shun'd the imputation of blood because he was a Ruler and a Magistrate Ferrum adhibere nisi in extremis neque civile neque medicum As in the Body of man so in the Estate political that Member should be very corrupt which is cut off with the Sword Many Executions are no more honourable to the Judg than many Funerals to the Physician Mercy and Clemency are stronger than Lions to support the Crown of the King and that Throne shall be established says Synesius where the People are afraid of nothing so much as for the Kings safety It is said of Trajan the Emperor that he was both subtle and industrious to examin the crimes of Malefactors sed mallet non invenire quod quaerit quà m invenire quod puniat that it pleased him better not to find out that which he sought for than to find out any thing which must be punished The life of Jehu the Son of Nimshi is it not a strange Legend as ever was recorded no act or exploit of his memory remaining in all the Scripture but interfecit interfecit here he kill'd one there he murdered forty then he slew 400 but as soon as all the Enemies of God were cut off then says the Text he slept with his Fathers as if his work were done and he died for want of more employment But I need not enlarge my discourse in this point we having not so much cause to preach to man as to praise God for lenity And I have not so learnt Christ to think the Sword of vengeance doth not become the arm of the Civil Magistrate David had a good purpose to build a Temple unto God but it was not accepted because he was a man of war and had shed much blood 1 Chron. xxviii Why was the work then cast upon Solomon his Son had not he given sentence of death against Adonijah Joab and Shemei and is it not as lawful to cut off the Enemies in war as Malefactors in peace First the hearts of Warriours are not always bent upon justice as the heart of the Magistrate then it is the Word of the Judg that fetcheth blood but it is the Hand of the Battel therefore God himself hath thus distinguished that the blood of War did defile King David but the blood of Civil Justice did not cast a blemish upon Solomon They that cannot distinguish between vengeance and just authority are like the Moabites that lookt upon the waters and saw them ruddie and thought it was effusion of blood when it was the brightness of the Sun and the light of Heaven But was Pilat so tender of taking life away did it come so hardly from him to doom the Sentence of death against a Prisoner Lord what Dam did they suck into whose hands our Ancestors fell the Grey-head the Reverend Praelacy the fruitful Womb of Mothers all were sentenced unto one fiery Execution for Religion's sake Surely it had been a Premunire in the Court of Rome to have shewn mercy unto any man or to talk of clemency It was the disposition of the old Indian Philosophers says St. Hierom Eorum disciplina juvare non nisi justè novit nocere nec justè they would do good only when there was justice to do it but they would not hurt any man no not when they had reason for it The Papists are as far from this meekness as Dan from Beersheba that let out floulds of Christian blood to maintain their unbloody Sacrifice When Cyrus the younger would have slain his Brother Artaxerxes see the tender compassion of the Mother she bound him about her own neck with the hair of her head and it was a sufficient Sanctuary to save his life Our holy Martyrs and Professors were bound to the Church their Mother by Baptism by Truth by Faith by Charity by the Prerogative of Natural Branches and yet like a Perfume of Incense they were burnt to ashes It is enough and they cannot hate the false Church by the Canons and Confession of Trent may hate their parricidious and malicious minds by the fire in Smithfield It is a Saint-like indulgence that we do not mete the same measure into their own bosom an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth no it is canticum canticorum the Canticle of our Church and the Song of the Spouse of Christ I am innocent of blood Now I will bring Pilat upon his last Trial from innocens sanguinis to innocens hujus sanguinis to the trial of this man's blood and you shall see how he mocked his conscience that he was innocent of the blood of Christ those few things which he could say for himself are these In the first place He stood upon it before all the people that Christ was harmless and guilty of no crime or imputation Ecce priùs absolvit quam damnat if Christ was harmless why was he beaten here 's a Judg indeed fitter for Outlaws and Robbers than for a civil Corporation first he absolves and then condemns his Prisoner As St. Austin said to Lucretia Nocentior fuit quae seipsam interfecit quantò erat in causâ innocentior Lucretia was the greater Murderer of her self because Lucretia was innocent So it holds in the crucifying of our Saviour and nothing doth more aggravate the fact to make Pilat nocent than that he confesseth Christ was innocent When Sylla did send out his Guard to cut off the head of Antonius the Orator the well-spoken man did so bewitch the Souldiers with fair words who came to kill him that they hung down their heads wept and spared his life till he sent other Assassines more cruel than the former who did the deed Lo a greater wonder Christ making no declaration of his Cause in pathetical words cast such a look upon the Judg O what a sight it had been to have seen his face but for that moment that he could not but confess the heart was true where the countenance was so honest Thus according to the case of Antonius in the first assault the Ballance of Justice was held even till the Rulers inconstancy and the Peoples importunity weighed it down against the best alive therefore the clearing of Jesus from all faults by protestation is nothing to make Pilat innocent Secondly what can he say beside in his own justification marry like a tender-hearted Murderer he would not let his own hand be upon him but sent him as a Malifactor of Galilee unto Herod Call you this commiseration to be delivered from the Adversary to the Judg from the Judg to
of Heaven ut gentilis deprecatione ultio sanguinis istius à nobis ablata sit that the vengeance of his blood should be denounced against Israel and the Nations excused but yet Pilat was but mungril good and therefore his hand was in this bloody passion as well as the men of Jerusalem both Jew and Gentile did concur to his sufferings says Origen ut pro persecutoribus qui oraret gentiles non excluderet that when he prayed for his Persecutors the Gentiles might be at one end of his persecution and be partakers of his Prayers Had Pilat been as malicious as the Jews we poor souls had been liable to the vengeance of his blood had Pilat stopt his ears against the outcries and never yielded to the passion we had not been in the number of those Persecutors for whom he made intercession therefore this luke warm Magistrate began with Jacobs voice but ended with the hands of Esau neither could he say he was innocent of the blood of this just man Nay then I must tell you to forget Pilat a while were you all in this Assembly dearly beloved of none other but of the very choice and flower of the resurrection of the just a Rank of Patriarchs an Army of Martyrs a Company of holy Prophets yet Qui omnes conclusit sub peccato omnes conlusit suh homicidio he that doth lay sin to every mans soul doth lay the murder of our Lord and Saviour to every mans charge for the redemption of sins And then are you better than your forefathers Are you more righteous than the Prophets that you alone are innocent No you are also the crucifiers of your Redeemer and if your consciences do not say so bear witness of my words for an action of slander Solum peccatum homicida est Not Pilate but hypocrisie not Caiaphas but Simony not Herod but incestuous lust not the Souldiers but Bands and Troupes of Rapines and Blasphemies were the murderers of Christ When a Bullock was slain for a sin Offering to make an attonement for the whole Congregation Lev. iv 25. All the Elders of the City says Moses shall lay their hands upon the head of the Bullock that they being the representative body of all Israel might testifie that every soul in Israel was accessory to the death of the Sacrifice This was a figurative expression how the whole Generation of mankind did concur to be guilty of the bloudy Oblation of the Son of God As the trial hath been seen upon murderers when they have drawn near to the Carkass which hath been slain by their hands either fresh bloud from the wounds of the Carkass or an issue of their own bloud hath betrayed them as some say so let me question you when you stand before Christ especially when he stands before you in the holy Sacrament do not your hearts bleed within you to express your guiltiness of his Passion O give the flux a passage to come out I do not say in bloud but in tears which are the bloud of the soul The bleeding of the Vine draws away the life of the tree and leaves it barren of the Clusters which should hang upon it but the flowing of tears makes us fruitful to bring forth many Bunches of good works not the Clusters of an earthly but of an heavenly Canaan And now let me ask you as I would ask of men that shun those places out of horrour wherein they have spilt anothers bloud I say Why do you love this world so much wherein you have killed Christ Why are you not aweary of this place What can please us in such a soyl which should be unto us all as Aceldema was to Judas the Theater to act sins and therefore the field of bloud Wherefore do we not rather say with Tertullian Nihil nostri refert in hoc mundo nisi de eo quà m citò excedere We Christians have nothing to do in this earth but to make haste to forsake it for a better especially abandon the thoughts of deadly revenge do not wish for more bloud at any hand we have all spilt enough already in the funerals of our Saviour were he not both a Sacrifice slain for us as he is a Sacrifie slain by us more than ever we could answer for Make not your revengeful heart like Golgotha where Christ was crucified a place of dead mens sculls But least any man should be swallowed up with too much grief because he is endited for this hainous crime the bitter death of his Saviour let him take this for his comfort to put gladness in his heart it is not one death that our Lord Jesus doth stand upon Passus est quia voluit he never shrinks for one death but stretched out his arms upon the Cross to embrace it Take heed only that you do not crucifie him anew Nay mistake me not here though you sin ten thousand times over yet he can die but once for you but my meaning is the Summa totalis of all mens sins did abase the Son of God to the ignominy of the Cross yet this dolorous day was from Gods preordination But that we may not crucifie him anew first Do not neglect his death as if it were some common and uncommiserated anguish Secondly Do not run into admiration of your own merits as if had there been all such as you in the world his Passion had been spared Lastly Do not presume upon grace as if Remission of sins were a safe Indulgence for sins to be multiplied They that do commit such things are guilty not once but often to crucifie the Lord of life To conclude then against Pilates falshood and hypocrisie three things do concur in the crucifying of our Saviour Destinatio passionis executio passionis iteratio passionis In the Predestination of Christs Passion God did look upon all mankind the Elect especially as lapsed into sin and therein Pilate was not innocent The execution of his Passion upon earth was committed by the envy of the Priests the cruelty of the Souldiers and the power of Pilate What though his mind did not consent Yet he lent them his authority Herod was not willing it seems to have John Baptists head but it comes all to one pass if Herodias must have her content and therefore in the execution was not Pilate innocent The iteration of his Passion lights upon those who make an impenitent end and do not apply his sufferings to their sin-sick conscience and since Pilate lived a Vagabond for ever after and died like a desperate cast-away either by drowning at Vienna or falling upon his own Sword at Lions that is the difference of the History neither in this respect nor in any else could he say I am innocent of the bloud of this just person And so I pass to the second general part of my Text from this lie which Pilate told to his true testimony concerning Christ that he was a just person Yet I commend this disposition in
integrity of our Saviour against scandalous accusations when his lips were closed but as a Rest in Musick is not the close of the Song but a seasonable stop to make the next relish more graceful and harmonious so after the pause of silence which our Saviour made you shall now see the better how false and malicious the crimes of enditement were Before Cajaphas the High-Priest as I told you this only was objected that he threatned to destroy the Temple Three other capital crimes are laid against him Luke xxiii 2. that he perverted the Nation that he denied Tribute unto Caesar that he made himself the King of the Jews Here are two great sins against the Ecclesiastical Weal to pluck down the Temple and to pervert the Religion and two outrages against civil peace to pay no Tribute and to encroach upon the Title of the Kingdom let him be crucified a Gods name that pleads guilty to such abominations but if no more can be said against Jesus and we can shew in every particular that all this was forgery then let Pilate wash his hands and protest before them all that the life which they would take away is the bloud of a just person We heard him say He would destroy the Temple Never was such a syllable spoken Is not this the Temple wherein He bestowed his first blould at Circumcision a pair of Turtle Doves for a Sacrifice at his Mothers Purification Did He not shed his tears over this House of God in that pathetical lamentation O Jerusalem Jerusalem did He not spend his disputations with the Doctors his Sermons among the People his Prayer unto the Father and all under that holy Roof And now is his zeal turned to his reproach that He would pluck down the Sanctuary a while before did He not scourge the prophane Merchants and clense the Temple and now is He suspected for laying waste the dwelling place of the Most high Nay let them offer Swines flesh there let them change money and sell Doves I would rather bear with Superstition with Prophanation than with extreme Sacrilege O beware Beloved to open the lead of the Roof or to rent the walls of that Habitation where Gods Altar was inclosed He shall offend less that throws down any Mansion House in the World than he that cuts up but the Bramble-bush if he knew it wherein the glory of the Lord appeared 'T is pity that the stony hearts of men should suffer holy Buildings to moulder and crumble away into desolation I see a compassionate example before mine eyes O ye rich men of the World who is your God that you do not repair it But those Sons of Belial who prevent these ruins which time would bring upon the Houses of God 't is more pitty they should see the grey hairs of age in peace Surely as the Heavens which are the upper Court of Gods House shall melt away and be dissolved only by the power of God so Churches and Oratories here below which are the nether Courts of his Sanctuary should never be defaced in this World by any arm of flesh till the whole earth shall pass away and Gods own finger deface these Monuments of glory See but the hypocrisie of these Jews and Herodians they that are so careful a Temple should not be destroyed are furious to destroy the body of a man which is the Temple of the Holy Ghost Like the Popish Inquisitors most bold and zealous to curse those hotspurrs in our Kingdom who threw down a Church in their wrath and broke down the walls in their blind affection yet they themselves made havock of holy Praelats and did persecute their lives unto death and this was called Justice and Catholigue Religion to conclude this Accusation And why do they impeach our Saviour that He would destroy a Temple no such matter God knows Solvite templum hoc what means that why the Temple of his Body Why then who but they themselves do destroy the Temple which He spake of meaning the Temple of his Body The crime then you may perceive as it was objected against our Saviour it was slanderous but take this to the advantage of your instruction what judgment will God pour upon them who rob the Altar and spoil the Patrimony of the Church since these unconscionable Jews do confess that whosoever would destroy a Temple deserves to be crucified Yet Pilate was a Gentile and perchance would not heed the eracing of Gods House therefore to make the Romans look about them they have a second Objection in store That He would pervert the Nation Not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as some read it the Nation of the Romans but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Nation Forsooth they fain an Accusation that he taught contrary to the Law of Moses and if new Doctrine be publisht let the Rulers look to it for this is as apparent as the light of the day that new Religion is ever new Rebellion but I do not say so of old Doctrine renewed It is a strange stupidity which the Devil puts into some mens heads you cannot perswade them to change for the better Simonides would rather learn the art of Forgetfulness than the art of Memory Velleius the Epicuraean was afraid of nothing more than to have learned Problems cast into his head which might rouze him out of ignorance Gryllus was so well in a Hogsty that he was unwilling to leave his swinish life and turn man again Are there not a thousand examples of wanton Ladies that had rather be Girls and Younglings than grow into years of understanding and discretion So the Jews had rather be ever kept under the Paedagogie of the Law than be perfect men and cast off the yoke of Ceremonies and live in the liberties of the Gospel Nisi cessassent ceremoniae non discernere licuisset hodie quorsum essent institutae says our learned Calvin had not those Shadows and Figures ceased in their due time when Christ brought a body into the world they had seemed impertinent we had never known for what they were instituted The Levitical Ceremonies were so obnoxious to alteration that the Schoolmen have set down their state in no less than five Conclusions 1. They were ever mortales the Covenant of these Observations was to fade away and not to endure for ever 2. From the time of John Baptist to the Burial of our Saviour they were moriturae inclining to dissolution 3. Upon the Commission which the Apostles had to preach the Gospel at the Feast of Pentecost they were mortuae quite dead and expired 4. As the Corps of a great Personage is not interred but in a decent time after his departure so till the weakness of the Jews was well instructed they were sepeliendae laid out to be buried But lastly when the faith of Jesus Christ was preached unto all Nations they were mortiferae not only dead but deadly unto him who should distrust in Christ and make himself a debter
a Lord as if his soul did divine there was a greater upon earth The Reed put into Christs hand the Crown upon his head the bowing of the Knee the Title upon the Cross these were calumnies and revilings on the Jews part but on Gods part secret mysteries of his Spirit to make his enemies afford him the Ensigns of a Kingdom Nay ipsa crux tribunal fiâ—it says Origen Upon his very Cross whereon he hanged he stood like a Judge between the nocent and the innocent All this was nothing to Caesar to challenge the chief place among malefactors One thing is worth your adnotation that because Pilate and the Roman Empire did give wrong sentence of death against Christ who did not make himself a King therefore the self same Roman Empire doth endure this malediction from God that it should endure the pride of a Bishop unto this day who calls himself the Vicar of Christ and sets himself in a Throne above their Emperour The fault was cast upon Christ but the Pope commits it To end this Point If the Jews thought him worthy of death who made himself a King they that have a Doctrine to unmake a King as they please to sport with their Crowns what do they deserve And let the Jews be Judge and not the Jesuits Callisthenes was asked how a man might be most famous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him kill the most famous A fit answer for our Roman Parricides who above other Christians are rebaptized in baptismo sanguinis in the bloud of Princes Speak Pilate and you outragious murderers of the Jews do they not deserve to be crucified So now to recapitulate these false crimes objected the Temple was unviolate for any thing Christ had done the people unperverted Tribute granted Caesar honoured Venit Princeps mundi in me non habet quicquam let Pilate speak if he were not a just person How should a man be avenged of his enemies Plutarch answers by being so good that they cannot reproach his honest conversation So did our Saviour and surely it would pity any heart in the world that such a Saviour such an innocent Lamb should be slain But such a Sacrifice it behoved us to have which was holy unblameable and undefiled And to conclude this second general part of my Text be careful my brethren to keep a good conscience that when you shall crucifie this mortal body and the affections thereof as you must do daily you may endeavour to be a just person to walk in all the Statutes of the Lord that you may offer up a clean Sacrifice to God your Creator and Redeemer And so much for Pilat's true Testimony that Jesus was a just person I am innocent c. And now I betake my meditations to the last Point of all Vos videbitis you shall see to it The depravation of his own nature made him forge a lie in the first words I am innocent Conscience extorted truth in the second that his Prisoner was a just person A strange instinct brings forth this last part Vos videbitis you shall see to it Marvel no more at Caiaphas that he could Prophesie One man must die for all the people but rather marvel how Pilate should Prophesie that all the people must die for the bloud of one man As Salust said of the desperate times of Rome that men were so ill affected Vt intenta mala quasi fulmen optarent se quisque ne attingat That they wished mischiefs might fall down like a thunderbolt only every man was so careful as to pray for his own head So Pilate calls for a curse upon all Jury but first he shields his own head he is innocent You never knew a Fortune-teller skilful either in Palmistry curious Metaposcopie or of the Devils secret counsel in judicious Astrology that could read ought in his own destiny as Seneca said of the Soothsayers of Rome that undertook to tell Prodigies by the entrails of beasts Plus sapiunt in alieno jecore quam in suo That they had a better insight into the entrails of other things than into their own So we are all very cunning in vos videbitis to denounce those judgments which will befall other men but we ever misinterpret what will betide our selves Harsh judges we are of other mens faults for the most part but worse Prophets not so charitable as Elizaeus his bones to bring the dead unto life but like Micaiah unto Ahab always portending some disastrous thing to come to bring the living unto death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Grecian General said to Chryses when will we leave this ominous Prediction to be chanting some deadly Prophesie against our brethren Like Pilate against the Jews Vos videbitis You shall see to it Many Jews had Prophesied against the Abominations and Idolatry of the Gentiles Pilate is the first Gentile in Scripture that Prophesied against the Jews Alas then if the wrath of God be kindled yea but a little what is it that can save us from indignation Vos videbitis shall Israel be lost Shall Judah the first-born of God be wiped out of his mercies Is there no title for the protection of a sinner Joab is fled to the Altar what shall become of him Ask Benaiah when he cuts his thred The Altar yet is an eternal refuge for others Shall it not stand for ever Ask the Prophet who made it shake with fear as with an Earthquake that it should be thrown down The Temple is an everlasting habitation shall it not last as long as the Sun and Moon endureth Ask our Saviour if one stone shall be left upon another The people of the Land are the Sons of Abraham and Isaac is not their Covenant to endure for ever Ask St. Paul if the natural branches be not cut off and withered The Land howsoever is that plentiful Canaan fruitful by the report of Caleb and Joshuah more fruitful than report could make it Shall it not always be the Lady of the earth Ask Titus and the Romans if it be not a nest for Screech-owls and an hissing to all that shall live in the world How is the destiny of all things turned about Neither security remaining to fly unto the Altar nor the Altar remaining in the Temple nor the Temple in the City nor Inhabitants remaining in the Country but City and Country defaced unto all Posterity See Beloved how no priviledge upon earth will keep conditions with us except we keep conditions with heaven As Tertullian said of the Devils Pluvias quas jam sentiunt repromittunt When they perceive much moisture in the Air by their natural sagacity then the Soothsayers tell us we shall have rain so Satan knowing that judgment was begun already in Judaea Pilate begins to Prophesie Vos c. The murder of our Saviour should be their endless calamity The Passions of Christ were so innumerous so spiteful that to draw them unto certain heads if all were reckoned up
to frame a collocution with our own soul as David did What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits And so you have the first part Abrahams care and sollicitous heart He lifted up his eyes and looked It follows here is presens auxilium his necessities are supplied at an instant behold behind him a Ram caught in a thicket by his horns In holy Scripture Verba and res both words and things are considerable one with another So it is here the word is Ecce a note of attention bestowed upon the Text the thing is Aries a Ram bestowed upon Abraham And that you may know him from all the Flocks in the world there are two Marks set upon him The one more obscure that he is Aries post eum a Ram that was behind him such a one as was without a figure to be offered up long after Abrahams days in another Age By the other Mark he is easie to be guessed at For whose arms were nailed to the Cross Whose head was dimpled with thorns You know the man That was he that was caught by the horns in a Thicket I address my self to the four particulars Ecce behold it is a note of attention bestowed upon the Text. A strange sight indeed to be just in the way at the instant when Isaac should be redeemed at the instant when Abraham look'd about him for such a thing 1. But let the Eunuch read and God will send an Interpreter let Cornelius pray and God will provide an Apostle to bless him Mean well to the Worship of God and himself will administer and suppeditate necessaries for the execution of the work Abraham would fain present an Oblation why Ecce behold his wish and it pleaseth me very well that Interpreters confess that they do not know which way this Ram came into a Thicket in the Mountain of Moriah perchance says one he was productus in vepribus created at that instant in the bush Perchance says another he was Adductus ab Angelo the Angel conveyed him thither from some other Flock feeding about the place and as the most say perchance he was a stray that of himself came wandring to this place as God would have it and stopt there at the nick and opportunity when the Lord had need of it St. Austin runs over all these opinions and gives his Reader leave to take which he will why thus it should be let Interpreters wonder still let them all say Ecce Aries behold a Ram but never know how he came thither for believe the Gospel and this was Christs own case Joh. ix 29. The Pharisees cry out as for this fellow we know not from whence he is And all the people say Joh. vii 27. When Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is Such was Melchisedech a perfect shadow of our Saviour before this Ram was heard of without Father without Mother without Genealogy Strange is the Apparision of the Ram strange the descent of Melchisedech stranger than both the coming of Christ into the world Quis enarrabit The Prophet confesseth that all men are posed and none can declare his Generation Yet that the Ram was of new created in the Thicket the guess is Theological he that created all things in the beginning his arm is not shortened to this day That it was pick'd out of some other Flock and brought thither by an Angel the interpretation may be admitted it skills not what Shepherd was the owner as our Saviour sent his Commission for the Ass and the Colt Loose them and bring them with you if the Owner ask you what you do Dicite Dominus opus habet say the Lord hath need of them so the Angel might enter upon any fold and take his choice for the Lord hath need of a Ram all things are his possession Christ did exercise this propriety when he cursed another mans Fig-tree and made it wither when the Gargasens took their Swine to be their own but the very Devils confessed they were his and ask'd his leave to go into them And as Elias eat his Cake and the flesh made ready upon the coals from whomsoever the Ravens brought it for it was Gods appointment So Abraham burnt the Ram upon the wood from whomsoever the Angel brought it for it was Gods provision Again that it was Aries fortuitus a Ram that straggled thither by fortune it is not an opinion to be misliked O quantum est subitis casibus ingenium things that seem to be done accidentally there is many times much observation in them that which is casualty according to the second causes is deep providence in the divine wisdom Our ignorance hath made fortune nay it is not quite made but only painted Et tam facile deleri potest quam fingi says Tully refer all to the abstruse reach of Providence and you may blot out the name of Fortune as easily as you have invented it Thus you see that this note of attention behold puts us to wonder at the apparition of the Ram and now let us come indeed to see and behold him Ecce Aries behold a Ram that is the thing bestowed upon Abraham and at this Point I may say my Text is like the clean beasts in the Law it divides the hoof two ways the sence is divided and both belong unto Christ Isaac says Origen was first presented to be slain but he was drawn back from the slaughter and the Ram was burnt in his stead So Christ both God and man was arraigned before Pilate condemned and brought to Golgotha to be crucified But his Divinity was uncapable of corruption and passion only the Manhood like the Ram was offered up the stream of Writers goes the other way In Isaac the whole communion of Saints is shadowed in Isaac are all the Nations of the earth comprehended that shall be called blessed it was no easie matter no not for these to escape death so maliciously had our sins beset us round about but the Lord took his Elect out of the jaws of death As a Shepherd says Amos taketh a Leg or an Ear out of the mouth of a Lion but the poor Ram bore our griefs the chastisement of our peace fell upon our blessed Redeemer and with his death we are made alive Man being in honour had no understanding but is compared to the beasts that perish we indeed deserve no better comparisons but Christ the excellency of his Fathers glory Non solum per hominem sed etiam per pecudem est figuratus says St. Austin His honour is figured disguised I may say not only in the names of men but in the names of beasts not one of them which the Priest did slay in the Temple to make an attonement for sin but in some resemblance or other it was Christ In tauro videas fortitudinem in hirco similitudinem peccati in ariete principatum in agno innocentium In the Oxen that were brought to the
such a spark of fire blow it and kindle the whole man to be a perfect Oblation an whole Burnt-offering to be presented to God Immolata sacrificia sunt perfecta studia virtutum says Origen an whole Burnt-offering is he that hath quite renounced the world consumed the root of concupiscence denies himself all unlawful desires crucifies the old man suffers zeal even to eat and devour him encreaseth charity so far to enflame his heart as if his frail flesh could scarce subsist because of the love of God For such a one the Son of God became a Burnt-offering that He might not perish in everlasting fire this is the full satisfaction of Christ to purchase the full of redemption of them that shall be saved in the last part Abraham offered up the Ram in holocaustum pro filio instead of his Son The Jews as their own Rabbies testifie did so much rejoyce in after ages for the deliverance of Isaac that in the Feast of Tabernacles they sounded the praise of God with Rams horns as if they had been Trumpets because a Ram was substituted to death instead of their Patriarch Alas for pitty the spilling of Isaacs bloud it is of no price for the redemption of a Soul it is not a sufficient Pawn for his own head much less for the sins of the World Meliorem animam pro morte Daretis persolvo as Entellus said when he offered up an Heifer instead of Daris so the Ram in my Text the Lord of the Flock an Attonement of infinite value must bear the Curse and the Cross of our iniquities and lay down his life for his Sheep a strange Sacrifice consisting of two Natures in the Personal Union of God and Man must satisfie God for the absolution of Man such a one as suffered not for himself but was offered instead of Isaac pro semine Electorum and for the Seed of all the Elect that shall reign in glory The Heathen had a glimpse of some such thing in their superstitious manner of Expiation for if ruin did threaten any State or Kingdom they thought it possible to remove the publick vengeance upon one or a few more that would willingly undertake it whom they called Piaculares homines men that took upon them the punishment or calamity due to all the people and Caiaphas did seem to allude to this when he told his fellow Priests that one man must suffer for the whole Nation Caritas in patriam impietas in Christum his charity towards his Country was laudable his impiety against Christ was damnable One man must suffer indeed unum pro multis dabitur caput as he said of Palinurus so this was the true Pilot of the Ship that guides his Church in the tempestuous waves of tentation and the Pilot only was cast away in the storm that Isaac and the Sons of Promise might come safe to the Haven of eternal happiness To end all let us all conceive and let our hearts be strongly possessed with the credulity that we are going with Abraham to Mount Moriah to the Hill of Divine Worship and Adoration take Isaac along with you that is all your laughter your joy the strength of your pleasure in this world to offer it up unto the Lord then trust and be assured Isaac shall be spared and the Ram shall die Thus Bernard unfolds the Allegory Non peribit tibi laetitia sed contumacia Domino vives sed crucifixus mundo you shall not lose your joy nor your hearts solace wantonness lasciviousness rebellion of the flesh these shall be offered up and consumed you shall live unto God but be crucified unto the World Cum laetus accesseris ad Deum iterum tibi reddet quod obtuleris a sweet Meditation of Origen's when it is gladness and delight unto you to come unto God when you bring Isaac for a Sacrifice you shall not lose your Offering but again it shall be restored unto you as he that multiplied his Talents by good husbandry they were his own for his labour and more to boot take the single Talent and give it to him that hath ten Talents saith the Lord. You that live in excess of pleasure and jollity you that think Abraham hath lost his Isaac that a religious and a devout life obstinately averse from the sweetness of your time-consuming mirth and sport is but sadness and melancholy and mistaken As no man heard the Musick of Heaven but Pythagoras so such as have lost the exulting bravery of the world in appearance are the only men to whose soul the harmonious joy of Heaven doth reveal it self Like young Abishag in Davids bosom so Isaac and the fruit of joy and gladness is always before the eyes of Abraham Your heart shall rejoyce and no man shall take it from you says our Saviour Almighty God grant that we may esteem it the greatest treasure of our joy and felicity that Jesus Christ a Sacrifice well pleasing to his Father hath died for us and that his bloud hath washed away our sins and purchased us an Inheritance immortal with the Saints AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE PASSION JOHN iii. 14. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up THough King Hezekiah destroyed the substance of the brazen Serpent to avoid peril of Idolatry yet Christ hath renewed the memory of it in this Text. Neither was it fit that the remembrance of it should die because it represented the death of him by whom we live for ever The Disciple to whom our Saviour directed these words was Nicodemus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ruler a primary man ver 1. the best in quality of all the Jews that had yet come to Christ to be taught The Text I am sure is not grown less than it was but still it is fit to be preacht of before a Ruler Rulers are illustrious in their outward splendor and Titles Let them use them nobly and he that is greater than they will make them greater But Christ calls Nicodemus to a new way of honour to be all glorious within and tells him copiously that this is to be atchieved two ways First By regeneration of holiness he must become a new man he must be born again he must be born of the Spirit or he cannot see the Kingdom of God ver 4 5. Secondly By Justification through Remission of sins in the bloud of a Saviour and of this my Text speaks magnificently as Moses c. So that Nicodemus the Ruler hath no readier way to amplifie his honour than to be acquainted with the Passion of our Lord And no way more direct to understand that salutiferous Passion than to possess his imagination with the figure of the Serpent which was erected in the Wilderness Christ could have taught him the mystery of his death in another Type and a little more ancient the immolation of the Paschal Lamb. But first Nicodemus took good liking to
through him might be saved And indeed the best that we can say of the Figure is That it was harmless and no very Serpent But it were dotage to suppose that the material thing had any secret vertue of restauration no more than the Figure of the Cross upon the post-fact is operative a superstition which our Church hath justly disclaimed He sent forth his word and he healed them says David it was Gods Word and Promise that cured them and not the brazen Element But Christ conteined remedy in himself and in his all-sufficient Sacrifice For the Son of righteousness did arise with healing in his wings Mal. iv 2. What hath he not healed if we will lay the plaisters of his Passion to our sins By his Poverty he hath condemned Covetousness by his charitable Prayers for his enemies implacable malice by the price for which the holy One was bought and sold Sacriledge by his Crown of thorns Ambition by the humility of his Cross Pride by his Gall and Vinegar Luxury by his Patience Impatience by his infinite Love Envy all his torments were preservatives against poison every part of him is sanity And that not only because this Figure was unvenomed but chiefly because it was a dead lump and not a living Serpent Mortuus serpens vivos superabat says Macarius The living Serpents were charmed by the dead one that they had no power to kill The bloud of Christ purgeth us from our sins and his death was our victory against death that we might live for ever It was well done of Nicodemus to spare no cost to imbalm his body It was piously done of Mary Magdalen to pour her precious Ointment upon his head against the day of his burial for therein we became the savour of life unto life and his Funeral was our immortality As Samson found his honey comb in the Carkass of the Lion so the Church finds sweetness in the bitterness of his Passion Caiaphas did not feel the vigour of his own Prophesie it slipt from his tongue and not from his heart That it was expedient that one man should die for the sins of the people His Successors contradict it obstinately to this day and controul it thus How can he save us that is crucified I return them an answer from my Text How could a dead lump of Brass expel their poison that were wounded If they depended upon a thing inanimate for the life of their body wherefore do they not attend the mystery that they must depend upon a Saviour put to death for the life of their Soul Attenditur serpens ut nihil valeat serpens attenditur mors ut nihil valeat mors says St. Austin The Jews look'd upon a Serpent to be freed from Serpents and Christians look upon death to be delivered from death There is one analogy more to be collected out of the unity of the Figure One Serpent was lifted up for the general preservation of all the Camp of Israel Not twelve distinct ones according to the number of their Tribes and much less no uncertain multiplication according to the number of their Families Nulla salus sine unitate The hope of health and remedy is founded in unity Our Gods are not Plural our Redeemers are not many they that have divers Saviours have never a Saviour They that have tutelary Martyrs for almost every Church and Patron Saints distinctly for every Kingdom they have so many Serpents lifted up and they look so many ways that their wounds stink and are corrupt through their foolishness and they prosper no way We have one head to which the body is knit one Shepherd to guide the Flock one corner stone in the building one Serpent in the Wilderness One Mediator between God and man the man Jesus Christ An infinite vertue can admit of no co-partnership I tremble at their infidelity that frame Scholastical Cases out of their own brain how others are subservient to the Son of God in the work of our Redemption But he says I have trod the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me Isa lxiii 3. Whether an Israelite chanced to be stung in the head or in the face whether upon the breast or in the lower parts of the body one Serpent upon the Pole was enough to heal all So we have sins original and actual of commission and omission of ignorance infirmity and presumption of thought word and deed Vndique morsus we are stung from the crown of the head to the soul of the foot But as all are dead so one died for all that they which live should not live unto themselves but unto him that died for us and rose again Now for the material part out of which this Figure was carved it was not wrought in stone The Law was written in Tables of stone but grace and mercy are of another complexion It was not Silver or Gold though they in some sort are most correspondent in nature with Serpents for they are the bane of godliness and justice but we were not redeemed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold but with the precious bloud of Christ as of a Lamb undefiled It was erected in the strong and durable substance of Brass For one Generation passeth away and another cometh but the vertue of Christs Cross is perpetual and endures for ever It is not my excogitation but Isidors In serpente mortuus in aere aeternus Dead as the Serpent upon the Pole but durable as the Brass because the benefit of his death continues always Therefore his bloud is called The bloud of the everlasting Covenant Heb. xiii 20. Sooner shall all the brazen Pillars and Monuments upon earth be resolved into dust than one jot of this Covenant should be violated the merit of his Passion makes intercession for us continually before his Father and never ceaseth Behold our Pardon is engraven in Brass never to be blotted out it is too strong to be dissolved I look not upon that which is fluxive and changeable but upon a propitiation in Brass Yet not upon the Altar of Brass lest the Israelites should think that their own Sacrifices of Sheep and Oxen did help them but upon the Serpent of Brass to let them perceive that it was the Sacrifice of Christ that healed them Beside could a Statue of Brass endure more injuries than were laid upon the tender body of our Saviour Could an Anvile sustain more stripes and blows When Job began to sink under the pressure of his afflictions says he Is my strength the strength of stones Or is my flesh of brass He was a man that had the courage to suffer much yet he had not a brazen body infirmity made him sink and wish for death but Christ endured for our sakes as a man of brass I pray God we have not hearts of steel that do not consider it Above all the Prophets Isidore doth well to call Jeremy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most passive of
them all therefore God ordained him to be the dungeon of misery in these words Behold I have made thee this day as an iron Pillar and a brazen Wall Jer. i. 18. So Christ endured the merciless wrath of his persecutors as if he had been scourged and crucified not in flesh and bloud but in brass or iron What a raging heat there is in a furnace of brass So Christ complains in his Agony as if he had been a molten furnace Lam. iii. 13. From above hath he sent fire into my bones and it prevaileth against them Therefore God appointed Moses to make a fiery Serpent Num. xxi 8. It seems the Serpent was like a Censor of brass and the fire of Incense was put into it that it might be a sweet savour unto the Lord ascending up with the prayers of the Congregation Or what is fitter to express the two natures of God and Man in one person than brass when it gloes with fire The Humane body without and the fire of the Divinity within these are the Ingredients of that Mediatour who bruised the head of the old Serpent took away our reproach and abolished our Iniquities Therefore the fire was as necessary for our use as the Brass the Brass that is the Manhood to suffer but the Fire that is the Godhead to make the sufferings of infinite price and inestimable value But that which we translate as the seventy two have guided us a fiery Serpent is Saraph in the Original which if it signifie fire it is Coelestial fire for from thence comes the word Seraphim the highest order of Angels who are inflamed with the zeal of charity O how much of that fire was in the Serpent that healed us What a Grove of love was in his heart which no eye nor thought can penetrate Who could have passed through so many thorns and nails so many scoffs and derisions but that his love was like fire that could not be quenched Lord if thou hadst not loved me thou hadst not been born for me But if thou hadst not loved me more than thy self thou hadst not died for me thy humility bore all thy patience overcame all but love sate at the Helm of the Ship and that commands all O thou sweet Tyrant says Nazianzen how strong are thy fetters with which thou tiest the Son of God And so I have done with the Serpent for his own frame and composition for the present use of it and for the Mystery I come to the Posture it was exaltation for Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness For else how could six hundred thousand men and more have recurrence unto it in their necessity to look upon it if it had not been lifted up Justin Martyr who had reason to be skilful in these things being a Samaritan by birth says that Moses having fastned the Serpent to along Pole erected it upon the top of the Tabernacle and then the remotest person might easily glance upon it for every Tribe keeping the distance of two thousand Cubits that is an English mile from the Tabernacle Josh iii. 4. and the doors of all their Tents opening inwards towards the Tabernacle their eye-lids could not open but they must see that object which was the Mast of the Ship or the Spire of the Steeple upon the Church of the Tabernacle Others consider it as an Ensign or Banner as if God had prepared to fight for Israel against the spiritual wickednesses in high places But if we fall into the slumber of Metaphors we shall meet with nothing but dreams It was disposed by the most High that the remedy to which the people were bidden to look should be exalted that the interiour thoughts of the heart might fly to God for succour after the president of the exteriour contemplation Israel might stoop to the earth to gather Manna for the sustentation of their body but they must look towards heaven for their preservation and to be delivered from death and hell I see nothing but corruption under me salvation and immortality are on high above me Translate our meditations from the sign to the thing signified and a Serpent elevated upon a Pole was Christ hanging upon the Cross It is his own exposition Joh. xii 32. And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me This he said signifying what death he should die He calls not that most ruful death his ignominy or his confusion or his humiliation but a lifting up a promotion an exaltation Can you devise a more chearful word for so sad a business Three ways he was lifted up Vt victima ut victor ut mediator In the manner of his death as a Sacrifice in the triumph over death as a Conquerour in his glorification to sit at the right hand of God as a Mediator First The manner of his death was ordained that he should hang upon a tree wherein pain and reproach and malediction might fall together like so many bitter waters in one torrent The magnitude of the pain refers unto numberless considerations Begin from hence that his body was weak and enfeebled with Agonies with watchings with scourgings with bearing his Cross then this torn and bruised body was stript naked so that his raw wounds took air and their smart was much augmented After this began the execution his feet and hands were pierced with nails where the quickest sense of the body doth most resent offence his Nerves and Arteries were crackt and distended his body hanging upon its own weight his arms were pluckt out to his little ease and great vexation further than their natural longitude But the further they were stretcht the greater Emblem it was that he was ready to embrace us His feet were pluckt down and fastened to a Pedestal to let us know he will not go from us till we depart from him The concurrence of so much torment parch'd the roof of his mouth and made him thirst and that thirst of his cannot be quenched but by our faith and repentance which is liquidated with tears All these concurring forced his life from him that he gave up the Ghost But tantò mirabilior resurrectio quantò mors certior Since his death was so certain that none could choose but know his Resurrection is more triumphant that none can choose but admire it And as the pain was excessive so the ignominy of that death was superlative Pone crucem servo To hang on a Cross was a death for servants not for Freemen and Citizens Paul a Citizen of Rome was beheaded Peter one reputed a vile person was crucified It was the destiny of none but slaves till Constantine in honour to our Saviour did utterly forbid it to all Malefactors Yet he whose service is perfect freedom endured it that he might abrogate the thraldom of sin by the chastisement of bondage and lead captivity captive Add unto all this the malediction of that death for cursed is every one that hangeth on
one belonging to the Temple but publick blessing to the whole world That is the reason that he suffered not within Jerusalem but without it to the end that all men that purifie their hearts by faith may claim a property in his Oblation Jesus that he might sanctifie the people with his own bloud suffered without the Gate Heb. xiii 11. Therefore let us go forth unto him without the Camp bearing his reproach First Let us go forth unto him and seek him out as stranger that have no abiding City but as Travellers that live in Tabernacles and are passing to our own Country through a Wilderness They that have set their rest upon earth and say here will I dwell for I have a delight therein they shall never find out the comfort of the Cross but use this World as a Pilgrim that would make haste with good speed out of it and you shall find your Saviour by the way He is not in the secret Chamber or in the Closet or in the Palace in none of these permanent and enduring habitations but in the trac of the wayfaring men that is in the Wilderness And then the Cross of Christ stands upon such ground where there is neither gain nor pleasure no more than is to be look'd for in a Wilderness Therefore St. Paul makes this further use of it let us go forth unto him without the Camp bearing his reproaching Extra castra extra mundum ejusque splendida exeamus says Theophylact Leave the pomp and beauty and jingling of these vain things if you stick to them you must perish with them for they all shall perish If you will remain in Sodom you must be destroyed in Sodom Is it not better to go into a Desart where there is nothing to eat than to live among belly-gods where there is nothing but Gluttony Is it not better to repent in Sackcloth than to be profane in Purple Is it not better to want and seek God than to abound and forget him Serpens sitis ardor arenae dulcia virtuti A well disciplined Christian praiseth God for all imcumbrances of adversity for the Serpents that fly about him with the stings of malice and infamy for sickness and languor for pain and weariness he did not look for kinder or more placid entertainment in a Wilderness But he that looks stedfastly to the Serpent that is lifted up in the Wilderness to Christ Jesus that suffered for the mitigation of our sorrows for the cure of our wounds for the accomplishment of our joyes for our victory over death and for our entrance into life everlasting AMEN THE FIFTH SERMON UPON THE PASSION ACTS ii 23. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain CHrist was crucified between two Thieves the one a Blasphemer the other a Penitent an unfit place for Jesus the righteous very incongruous to sort him among Thieves though both had been penitent But lo St. Peter exhibits him in my Text in another posture on the one hand he sets before the Jews the demonstration of all his holy ways while He lived in humility on the other hand his victorious resurrection when he began to step into glory The verse before my Text is the sum of his admirable innocent and best deserving conversation before he was betrayed into the hands of men Jesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of you the verse behind my Text is the blazoning of his eternal life after He had destroyed death whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it In the first He lets them see their malice that they kill'd an Innocent in the second He lets them know the impotency and weakness of their malice that He was revived again and exalted into Glory the goodness and miracles which were conspicuous in him should have bred him reverence from his friends and that the hand of violence should not touch him but his loosening the pains of death and breaking the bars of Hell asunder must obtein him homage and worship from those that were his enemies By the former description that He was so approved so well known for doing signs and wonders their conscience would confess that He was a man sent from God by the latter description that he shook off the sleep of death as Samson shook off his fetters after he awoke their faith ought to confess that He was God that came down to man Thus stands my Text supported between the double honour of our Saviour on the one side his Noble Acts how He lived in righteousness among men on the other side or on the reverse his Resurrection how He lives again in Power and great Majesty above the Angels This is the right way to consider his Death and Passion and then you shall have no scandal at his Cross have you not seen him pictur'd hanging on the Tree with his Mother on the right hand and the Disciple whom he loved on the left if you have that figure in mind you cannot forget the order which St. Peter observes in these three verses the Breviary of the whole Gospel whereof my Text is the Center behold the sufferance of Christ that 's the middle the love knot the band of all then the same of him that went before his death like Mary that bore him in her womb and the fame that went after his death like John the Evangelist who was the faithful Witness of his Resurrection And so I have told you how the Text stands among its neighbour verses but in it self and in its own contents it is the most proper work of that Meditation which is due to this time of Lent it is a calling of sins to remembrance a provocation to repentance and both these through the consideration of the bloody Passion of our Lord and Saviour Now that shedding of the bloud of Christ which both accuseth us of sin and cleanseth us from all our sins is referred here to two causes that brought it to pass two most several causes and out of most divers ends to God and to man First He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God it did not happen as a mischief that could not be avoided by the sudden exclamation of the people or by the inconstancy of Pilate no the Council of the Holy Trinity had sat upon it and concluded it before all time Secondly as the ordination of his death was to a good end and from God so the execution came from the Devil and his Instruments out of most malignant respects that is ye Jews that brought him to the Judgment-hall and urged against him and did not leave till ye had murder'd him your hands were wicked that took him and crucified him and slew the Lord of Life Begin we with that
the people owe in the audience of the King and again they will preach how the King is tied to justice and equity far from Court in the audience of the People Inveigh against ingrossers of Grain in the City and against false Merchandise in the Country This is a most preposterous course and no way intended to edifie their Auditors So St. Peter might have tax'd the Idolatry of the Gentiles in the hearing of the Jews and the sin of the Jews that they killed Christ in the hearing of the Gentiles but that partition had been very ill divided For it were like that Paradox in Chirurgery called Vnguentum armarium to cure a man without application of the remedy at an hundred miles distance No St. Peter had no such Quacksalver tricks in Divinity but directs his reprehension to them that were before him Ye have taken c. And all the Jews were rightly thus accused except those few of men and women that were his Disciples and followed him for if they were not such as accused him falsely yet they were such as suborned Catives to betray him If they were not in the plot of betraying they were in the sin of delivering up to Pilate if not among those that delivered him up to judgment yet among those that cried out Crucifie him in the time of judgment Nay though they did not cry out nor so much as in their hearts consent to his unjust trial yet they held their peace they suffered wrong to prevail and did not resist it They did not put off the Roman Souldiers and stay their fatal hands in one respect or other they were all as guilty as St. Peter chargeth them By wicked hands ye have crucified and slain him Some of the Jewish Rabines slout at these words of St. Peters to this day saying the Christians are quite mistaken to impute unto them the crucifying of Christ for they had no such kind of death in their Law and they did all things à punto according to their Law they crucified no man They had but four capital punishments for Malefactors says Maimonides after the tradition of Moses killing with the Sword stoning to death hanging on a tree by the neck and burning But the infliction of crucifying was unheard of to their Nation Thus they And whereas Cardinal Baronius Cardinal Sigonius Justus Lipsius and some other learned men contradict the Rabbines in this I think they did amiss not to believe their great Doctors in their own Laws and Customs wherein they were most expert The true retortion is that in the days of Christ the power of life and death was taken out of the hands of the Jews by their Lords the Romans that reigned over them therefore they implore the Roman Magistrate that he would condemn and execute their Prisoner after the Roman Laws and the Romans did deal with him after the rigour of their Laws which sentenced all those that were convicted of sedition and raising tumults to the bitter death of the Cross So Christ foretold to his Disciples anon before he entred into Jerusalem That the Son of man should be betrayed unto the chief Priests and Scribes and they shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucifie him Mat. xx 19. It was not the custom in Israel to strike nails through the feet or hands of any that were hanged up says Maimonides Nay the most accurate Casaubon says that there is not one word in all the Hebrew tongue for being nailed to the Cross so little were they acquainted with the punishment This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my Text affigentes which the Vulgar Latine most ignorantly reads affligentes is heathen Language and unknown to the Jews The Rabbines in contempt of our Saviour call him in their Tongue sometimes as you would say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he that was hanged but their Tongue could not furnish them with a word to say he that was fastned to a tree There may be divers ways of hanging on a tree beside crucifying and the Old Testament useth ever the general phrase Cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree The only place in the Old Law which hath respect particularly to the death of the Cross is Psal xxi 17. They pierced my hands and my feet Therefore the Rabbines have endeavoured to corrupt that place more than any other in all the Bible But the Psalmist alludes to that which the Jews should procure and the Romans execute One only place selected out of Sozomen by Casaubon avails much to prove that crucifying was not a Jewish but a Roman fashion For Constantine thought that no Malefactor was worthy to die on a Cross because our Lord had so suffered the just for the unjust therefore he took away that penalty of crucifying used before by the Romans says Sozomen Therefore the vulgar Latine Translation mistakes the words of my Text but hits the sense very well for it hath not Per manus impias by wicked hands but Per manus impiorum by the hands of the wicked as if it were in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an Article which would make it personal But then the meaning is ye Jews have taken him and by the hands of the wicked that is of the Gentiles have crucified him and slain him So Christ foretold The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of sinners that is into the hands of the Gentiles We that are by nature Jews and not sinners of the Gentiles says St. Paul Gal. ii St. Chrysostome understands it two ways either by the hands of Judas or by the hands of the Souldiers It is all one for consider it well and it is rather the worse on their side than the better They suborned Judas they importuned Pilate they stirred up the Souldiers St. Peter passeth over these instrumental accidental coadjutors and directs his invectives against them that had the chief finger in the murder that set all the wheels a going Ye have taken him and crucified him If David could discern the hand of Joab in the woman of Tekoahs Parable then be sure the Lord doth espy the chief Actors and Complotters of all mischief and rebellion though others appear in the fact whom they have exposed to censure and dangers Statists love to bring about odious projects by the hands of underlings as the Ape in the Fable would take the Chesnut out of the hot Embers with the Cats foot But God will send his Angels to gather up the Tares in bundles all that were Complices in the same sin shall make one bundle both Jew and Gentile For there is no connivence in Gods justice no ignorance in his wisdom no partiality in his sentence To him therefore be glory for ever AMEN NINE SERMONS UPON THE RESURRECTION OF OUR SAVIOUR THE FIRST SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION ACTS ii 24. Whom God hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be
holden of it A Resurrection Text out of the first Sermon that ever the Apostles Preached upon the Resurrection preached in their full vigour of sanctification immediately after they had received the Holy Ghost to let us know that Whitsunday was principally ordeined for this end to make Easter-day famous over all the world for when God filled Peter and all that were gathered together with that new wine of the Spirit which is mentioned in the begining of the Chapter what did it produce in the first instant what effect did immediately flow from it as an essential property read and mark from my Text onward to the end of ver 36. this is the nail altogether struck upon this is the Theme gone over and over that God had raised up Jesus the Book of the Psalms did prove it and the Disciples were witnesses of it O mystery of mysteries and wonder of Miracles the first lesson of faith the Corner-stone of the Building the most necessary Pillar of the Gospel indeed the bloudy passion of our Saviour which was delivered us in the former verse and the victory over death after that bloudy Passion which I shall instance upon in this verse these two are the supporters of all Christianity take away these two Pillars as Samson broke down those that held up the Theatre of the Philistins and you ruinate the whole Tower of Faith and demolish it to nothing Very fit it was therefore that all the tongues wherewith the Holy Ghost had endowed the Apostles with utterance to speak should concur in this one point and go no further in their first days labour namely that Christ was become the first fruits of them that slept that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption And because this Sermon of St. Peters in the forenamed respects is such an illustrious testimony of our Lords resurrection therefore both Eastern and Western Churches have selected this Chapter of old to be the second Lesson for the Evening Prayer of this great Festival so our Liturgie reteins it which never recedes from good antiquity and where our Church hath gone before me in her judgment I thought it meet to follow her at this time in my duty and to parcel out my Text from that great variety which the Chapter affords upon this occasion in these words c. The division that I will give you upon this verse shall be easie to conceive and that will help out some things which are a little difficult in the handling of the parts First here is the Resurrection of our Saviour barely and positively affirmed whom God hath raised up Secondly the complement of it God loosed withall the pains of death Thirdly the necessity of it for it was not possible that He should be holden of death He humbled himself and became obedient to death therefore He was raised up He undertook the death of the Cross being fast bound in misery and iron but as fast as they bound him God loosed him from those pains neither were these things arbitrary accidental obnoxious to any human impediment but contrived and fixed by Gods inevitable Decree ought not Christ to suffer and so to enter into his glory says the mouth of truth and wisdom There is an oportuit upon both he must suffer and he must overcome those sufferings Oportuit the former must be and it was impossible he should fail of the latter Or you compose this Text with the Points of the former Text immediately connexed with it and see the amends made by Gods mercy for the Jews fury Ye have slain that holy one says the Apostle but what follows God hath raised him up Ye have taken and crucified him but see the alteration God hath loosened all the pains and pangs of death He must not escape your hands it was permitted unto you from above he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God And he must escape all his ghostly enemies sin and death and hell for it was impossible he should be holden of them Whom God hath raised up Since the world began there was never any thing opposed so much as this that Christ rose again the third day according to the Scriptures For what shall we think of others when the Apostles of our Lord did not only suspend their belief when tidings were brought of it but with some disdain rejected it For when Mary Magdalen and Joanna and Mary the Mother of James did tell the Eleven what the Angel had testified their words seemed to them as idle tales and they believed them not Luc. xxiv 11. Nay when Christ had appeared to ten of that company Thomas only being out of the way they could not all perswade him that they had seen the Lord alive Was ever any Tenet of faith so difficultly received even into the hearts of the best men Then you may be sure that when this good seed fell into worse soil it was miserably choaked with thorns A sudden and a strong Faction combined against it instantly after it began to sound abroad Acts iv 2. The Priests and the Captain of the Temple and the Sadduces were grieved at no other part of their doctrine but this That they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead Josephus says that as long as the Sadduces continued till they were all destroyed they became as horrid and savage as beasts in cruelty raging against those that affirmed the immortality of soul and body When that Doctrine spread it self abroad and came to the Philosophers of Athens Some censured Paul for a babler some for a setter forth of strange Gods Acts xvii 18. And St. Chrysostome says upon it that Anastasia which signifies the Resurrection was accounted a God which the Christians only worshipped The same Paul opening the knowledge of the Gospel before Festus and King Agrippa that Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead Festus broke out in reviling at that passage Paul thou art beside thy self much learning doth make thee mad I would the opposition had gone no further but St. Austin and Epiphanius in their Catalogues of Hereticks rehearse more Adversaries against the Resurrection of Christ than any other doctrinal Point that concerns our Salvation Simon Magus wrote many books against it Basilides a venemous Dogmatist taught that Christ as he was led to be crucified vanished away by Art and Praestigiation and that Simon of Cyrene who bore his Cross some part of the way was put to death in his stead but that Jesus did never die and therefore was never raised from the dead The dross of so many Heresies was stained through these wicked wits that the Church might enjoy truth more triumphantly after such great resistance But let me go on with the Apostles question Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the Dead He that created the soul and body
of nothing doth it not appear much easier to him to joyn them together again in one substance when they are separated Finemque potentia coeli non habet superi quicquid voluere peractum est To expound that Heathen Poet by our Heavenly Poet Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did he in heaven in earth in the sea and in all deep places He that will consider how every day is renewed after the night hath overcast it by the dawning of a new morning how every year is renewed after the cold and darkness of Winter by the return and advancement of the Sun how the naked Trees reflourish by the Vegetative vertue of the Spring how Flies and Moths and the brood of the Silk-worm have no motion no quickness no token of life in them for many months together and yet instantly quicken again when the warmth of the Sun beams do cherish them Finally to end in that chief instance for the Scripture hath made it so how the seed of Corn falls into the ground and dies and then revives again and brings forth much fruit he that puts all this together rationally will more easily consent that it is not improbable that God will shew more wonderful signs of his workmanship in man being next under the Angels the beauty of all his Creatures An unwise man doth not mark this as the Psalmist said and a fool doth not understand it St. Austin says that Tully in his 3. lib. de Repub. disputed against the reuniting of soul and body His Argument was To what end Where should they remain together For a body cannot be assumed into heaven I believe God caused those famous monuments of his Wit to perish because of such impious opinions wherewith they were farced But to his slender Argument the body raised up shall have shaken off all malignancy of flesh and bloud which made it unfit for heaven And when it is become a glorious body why not a body inhabit heaven as well as a spiritual coelestial soul converse upon earth But Plato was more Theological than Tully and he taught very truly that souls could not remain separated for ever without their bodies And though he put not a reason to his opinion there is a very sufficient one Posse perficere materiam est animae hominis essentiale It is the essential difference for ought we know between the Spirit of a man and an Angel who is a spiritual substance that mans soul hath an aptitude a desire a natural reference to inform and actuate a body and so hath not an Angel Therefore it cannot be that this natural aptitude to dwell in flesh should be in it unto all eternity when it is separated from the body and never be satisfied Perhaps some will think that this labour may be spared to shew the possibility of a body to be raised from the dead for here is that power in act it is done it is manifested in Christ it cannot be controuled Whom God hath raised up Some have wondred at our Saviour for his Birth his obedience to his Parents his Poverty his Passion that he should humble himself so far but no man can take hold of any occasion to wonder why he should be raised from the dead and glorified so far It was conformable to the eternal justice of his Father to exalt him that had humbled himself so much Lowliness shall not always be left in the dust to be despised Therefore some of the ancient Writers make those words by Analogy to suit with Christ Psal cxxxix 2. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising And that of Micah in the same Key Chap. vii 8. Rejoyce not against me O mine enemy when I fall I shall arise Obedience and patience shall not be forgotten at last Every Valley that subjecteth it self under the mighty hand of God shall be exalted Jesus Christ though he was crucified through weakness yet he liveth by the power of God 2 Cor. xiii 4. Secondly Satan must make this restitution for the wrong that he had done to an innocent Death had dominion no further than sin did reign so that it was a most unjust usurpation in death to seize upon him who knew no sin the Devil set on his Instruments to kill our Lord and prevailed but Hell and the Grave must needs regorge that which they had so unjustly received That eternal Law which hath destined most several retributions to the pure and impure would not suffer that he should continue in death whose soul was pure and his body undefiled The Resurrection of us sinners is out of grace and mercy the Resurrection of Christ is out of merit and justice Both shall arise alike as St. Austin says Similiter surgent corpora quae dissimiliter orta sunt Christi Adami nostrum Bodies that were diversly framed and made as Christs and Adams and ours shall not rise after a divers manner but have the same kind of Resurrection Yet the excellency of the head is above the members for though the head and members are conformable in nature yet they are not in vertue Therefore I bring it home to my second reason that God is pleased in his loving kindness that we should overcome death but he consented to his own justice that Christ should overcome death for Satan must make restitution again because he had slain an innocent That is the second reason upon the main whom God hath raised up Thirdly As God hath turned the sting of death to our benefit so much more out of the Resurrection of his Son he hath given us a salve of consolation For if his humility and reproach were our blessing how much more his glory Death is two ways abolished first by the pardoning of our sins for it is now become the passage to heaven for all penitent sinners which before was the gate of hell for all transgressors Secondly It is much more abolished by the Resurrection evacuating all that mortality had caused by the restauration of soul and body into an integral composition We have three grand enemies combined together against us Sin and Death and Hell But through the happy victory of Christ of all these Enemies Death doth least harm and therefore of all our Enemies he is last destroyed Among the Heathen death was their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most amating terror that could be set before a man the reason for they knew neither how that loss should ever be repaired nor what entertainment their Spirit should find in another world when it was departed But God hath provided better things for us not to let us fluctuate in these fears and uncertainties Nay we are enlightened to know that the malediction which was in death is extinguished how that which was at first inflicted as an entrance into perpetual pain is now a rest from all our labours Rev. xiv Furthermore that it is a rest from sin for while we draw in our breath we suck in iniquity grace doth
mitigate our pronity to evil nothing but death will quite stop and repress sin in us the wisdom of God providing that as sin brought death into the world so death should utterly abolish sin out of the world So death dissolves the works of the Devil but the Resurrection dissolves the works of death It is the last thing that the Saints desire of God to be cloathed again With that request being heard they leave wishing and the end of all desires must be the crown and top of all felicity Finally to bring it home to the Person of Christ whom God raised up much was our benefit by his Death but much more by his Resurrection For lay these two in comparison together to be eased of misery and to be brought into a state of joy and gladness Is not the addition of some good thing more thanks-worthy than the taking away of some evil Why thus it stands with those two blessings which our Saviour obtained for us they are the words of St. Austin I think Sicut humiliatus est moriendo ut nos liberaret à malis ita glorificatus est resurgendo ut nos promoveret ad bona As he was humbled unto death to deliver us from the evil of death so he was glorified by rising again that he might bring us to happiness and glory And of this great work of raising up enough at this once this being the tenth of these Easter Festivals wherein I have spoken upon the same Argument and occasion before you Yet I have a little to add before I leave this first Point touching the Agent and the Patient God was the Author of this great work and Christ in his own body returned again to life whom God raised up May not the Power and Majesty of Christ seem to suffer in this that St. Peter says God raised him up For our Saviour did often give the Jews to know that he would raise himself again from the dead on the third day Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up again in three days Joh. ii 19. And without any Parabolical speech Joh. x. 18. No man taketh my life from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again Why then doth not the Apostle clearly attribute unto him that he was the Author of his own Resurrection Because he spake of his Humane Nature first impotently obnoxious to Passion and then powerfully restored to life The Omnipotent vertue to revoke the soul into the body again was in the Divinity of Christ not in his Humane Nature Therefore Christ declareth in those words of St. John that it is not in the power of man to reserve the soul in the body when the pangs of death are upon it but for his own part though deadly wounds should be gashed in his body yet he had power through the union of his Godhead to stay his life and not to lay it down Likewise it is far from the ability of man to re-unite his Spirit to his Flesh when it is separated but the Divinity of our Saviour kept personal union with the body in the Grave and with the soul when it is flown away therefore he could bring them together again to remain in incorruption the ancient similitude was As a man that draws a Sword out of a Scabbard holds the Sword in one hand and the Scabbard in another So the Soul was unsheathed from the body but the Divine Nature held personal union with them both And as the Weapon is fit to be put into the Case that held it yet it cannot sheath it self without the hand of the Ownor thrust it in So the Soul of Christ was restored again to the body not by any vertue or activity in the humane soul but by the Power of God Christ was made like unto other men in all things sin only excepted and re-made or raised up like other men Si homo non vicisset inimicum hominis non justè victus esset says Irenaeus The Enemy of man was overcome by a man else he would have clamoured that he was overcome by Power and not by Justice Therefore St. Paul to let us know that Christ was left in death as man to be raised up says he As by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead Him God raised up him that man Christ Jesus that was crucified the self-same body let me touch upon that and then I will go on to new matter The Resurrection of our Lord is the Samplar of ours that very same material Flesh that died was revived again in him and so it shall be in us The impious Socinians the last and one of the worst and most pestilent Sects that ever was in the Church teach that we are not bound to believe it as an Article of Faith that we shall rise again in our own bodies Why then the same dead shall not rise again for if they want one essential part and the matter is one essential part of our composition it is not the same man Matter is the principle of individuation or numerical distinction say the Metaphysicks And the old Pythagoraeans could not deny in their Paradox of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if one mans soul came by many transmigrations into another mans body it was another man But leave we the help of humane reason though that be strong on our side and come to Divinity All the Ensamples or Preludiums of the Resurrection both in Old and New Testament were of such as had life restored to them in their own body the Shunamites Child the Widows Son Lazarus the Brother of Mary and Martha the Saints that came out of their Graves in the holy City and Christ himself that came out of the Sepulchre And let any equal Auditor judge if Job were not an Anti-Socinian Job xix 26. Though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall behold for my self and mine eyes shall see and not another And is it not equity that the righteous in the same body wherein they have worshipped God they shall be glorified that the wicked in the same body wherein they have lusted after evil things they shall be punished I will name no Fathers to Patronize this cause for all concur with one voice that as God raised up Christ so he will raise us up in our own bodies With the Resurrection of our Saviour which I have handled hitherto in the first part of my Text there is adjoyned in the next place the Complement of his Resurrection the full weight and excellency of it having loosed the pains of death Solutis doloribus inferni having loosed the pains of hell so the vulgar Latine and I will now go over the divers interpretations of both readings The first which is the reading of our Translation is the right and best therefore I will begin with that First St.
loud voice Lazarus come forth AMong all the miracles that our Saviour wrought this suscitation of Lazarus or raising him up from the dead it was his true Benoni or Son of sorrow None came off with so much anxiety none cost him so dear in all the Gospel Twice he groaned in Spirit and once he wept his Passions were as variable as the life and death of Lazarus Look back to the fifteenth verse and you shall see it wrought comfortably I am glad for your sakes that Lazarus is dead Look unto the 35 verse and you shall see it wrought bitterly Jesus wept What alterations are there says St. Austin Gaudebat propter discipulos flebat propter Judeos horum fides confirmabatur horum incredulitas augebatur It joyed him for the Disciples sake that their faith would be confirmed and revived It grieved him for the Jews sake whose hearts were hardened The preparation then of this Miracle was not without sorrow but the event and sequel was worst of all For although the Counsel of the High Priests stomach'd at our Saviour long before yet they wisht his life no hurt till he had wrought this wonder which all the world were amazed at From that time Caiaphas began to talk like a Wizard That one man must die for the people and Christ must suffer Now you see good cause why our Lord might groan and weep Israel shall pass over into Canaan but Moses must die upon Mount Nebo the birth of Benjamin shall be Rachels funeral Lazarus shall be revived and Jesus crucified Yet I can tell you one thing Beloved how the Son of God shall neither groan nor weep for Lazarus but rejoyce in Spirit and be glad even at this day be glad as he stands at the right hand of God and it lies upon you to do it Did he then groan for the infidelity of the Pharisees Then sure he will now rejoyce if we believe in his works and have faith in the Resurrection Did he then weep because his own death was contrived for doing good Then he will now be comforted if you take heed that you do not again crucifie the Lord of life Tâ—llite lapidem as it is in verse 39 remove the stone the hardness of your heart and joy will follow in heaven for the conversion of a sinner Do you consider that the days past were a time of mourning and sad contrition Why here is a Text which was not preach'd without Christs mourning and lamentation Do you remember his Passion but the other day Why this is the Text which was an occasion to bring him to his Cross and Passion What do you meditate upon this day but our Saviours issuing out of the Grave Why here is Lazarus broke out of the Tomb Lazarus come forth Which words as I have read them rise up into two eminent heads like Tabor and Hermon You shall perceive that the business in my Text is a work of great dignity that is one part and a work of great Divinity that is the other part The dignity consists in these two Points 1. In that which Christ had spoken before when he had said thus And what was that He pray'd unto his Father wherefore it is dignum oratione a work worthy of a Prayer for the preparation 2. It is Dignum proclamatione it was cried with a loud voice and fit to be published to all the world The Divinity appears in these three circumstances 1. Exeat mortuus that a dead man is summoned to appear 2. Exeat Lazarus Lazarus after four days departure comes forth 3. Exeat ligatus one who was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths walks upon his feet O strange Divinity the Monuments which were shut did open for Christ did call who had the Key of David The dead who lay in silence could hear his tongue for it was the same voice which makes the Hinds bring forth young ones and called Adam from the dust of the earth The body which lay putrified four days gave no offence in the smell Christ was at hand who is a sweet savour for us unto God The feet which were bound with Grave-cloaths could walk before him for in him we live and move and have our being Was not this excellent work worthy of a Prayer So far we have gone this day in our morning Sacrifice Was it not worthy of the proclamation of a loud voice fit to be preached that the world may hear of it and believe and be saved And that is the business which doth now take up your attentions With these two circumstances of the Miracle I must first begin the preparation of our Saviours Prayer and the promulgation of his loud voice or preaching And when he had thus said c. That is when he had prayed unto the Father Dimidium facti qui benè caepit habet And he that begins his work with Prayer as Christ did hath half dispatch'd it Vox clamantis the voice of a Crier was the fore-runner of Christ when he came upon the earth Vox orantis the voice of Prayer must be the fore-runner of our necessities when we look for any thing from heaven As the people shouted when the foundation of the Temple was laid grace grace be unto the first stone of the building so let the foundation of every thing be laid with shouting and strong Ejaculations to our God that he may say upon the moving of the first stone Grace be to the building In Gen. xii Abraham removed three times to several quarters and still before he pitcht his Tent he built an Altar to Jehovah remove not stir not enter upon no new task before you have built an Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom wheresoever you are pray and your own heart is a Temple or the Alter of Jehovah Religion is the Bow and the heart is the String but Prayer is that which bends the Bow Religion is unbent as it were and the Shafts cannot fly untill Prayer dispatch them Well might Peter who was prompt of tongue and ready to speak upon all occasions be counted a chief Apostle for Prayer which is the tongue of Religion and our Consciences Orator is the chief of all our vertues Debilem facito manu debilem coxâ pede no matter for infirmities in the feet for diseases in the hands so the dumb Devil be not in our tongues The penitent Thief had no hands to hold up they were nailed to the Cross no knees to bend for his legs were broken he had a tongue to say Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom and it did him service enough to open Paradise O the delusions of the Devil For all this that I have said you shall sooner make ignorants and vain people believe that Diseases are curable by unsignificant Charms by unhallowed mutterings than by godly Prayers As if the Devil could go further with Non-sense than a good Christian with Faith and Prayer One Talent in
of a Trumpet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Paul meaning no doubt some shrill clamour because the Son of God would have his Resurrection an Article of the Creed and Faith is of things not seen Yea because he did meditate nothing but to abase and obscure himself and to do us honour O glorious voice which summoned Fishermen from their Ships Publicans from their trade Matthew from the Custom-house Paul from the bloudy City of Damascus and Lazarus from the Tomb. To hear him pray there was Rhetorick in that to incline every heart unto Piety To see Lazarus reviv'd there was Logick in that a demonstration of his Divinity To hear him cry aloud there was Musick in that no note was ever so sweet no tune of such a relish as the voice of our Saviour In Demosthenis scriptis magna abest pars Demosthenis It is said that much of Demosthenes is lost in his Writings because the matter was set forth with such a graceful utterance And surely unless we supply it with faith much of our Saviours Miracles is lost to us for want of living in that Age when we might hear that loud voice which commanded the Miracle It is not a superfluous phrase when we read it often that Jesus opened his mouth and saith Aperuit os suum qui in veteri lege aperire solebat ora Prophetarum God did open the Prophets mouths in the old world but he opened his own mouth and told his own tale in the Gospel O what contention of spirit What earnestness our Saviour did use when he did watch a good turn for any of his poor Members He would venter to break his own sides rather than not to break the gates of death which did lock up Lazarus whom he loved as Antigonus rent his Lungs and so died with incouraging his Souldiers Duritia vincenda est non suadenda says Tertullian you must not use fair means and perswasions to them who are in a Lethargy of sin Like old Eli to Hophni and Phinehas What my Sons I hear an evil report Qui timidè rogat negare docet he that asketh any thing faintly teacheth you how to deny him Qui timidè redarguit peccare docet and he that chides faintly teacheth you to despise him and puts on audacity to sin the more Where is the courage of Elias Where is the tongue of St. Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His life was like a flash of lightning and his doctrine like a clap of thunder As fast as the Pharisees could throw stones at St. Stephen he threw darts of rebuke at them Stiff-necked uncircumcised in heart despisers of the Law this was to speak against sin like a Commander and a Magistrate not like a Petitioner This was to cry with a loud voice to speak as it were under correction against Sacriledge usury corruption and the like to touch them as if you were loath to be understood God will say it is not Preaching but Libelling What labour What contention was this The softest whisper had it not been enough to command Satan and Hell and the Grave As Pompey said of his own power in Italy Si tellurem pede pulsavero copiae militum prodibunt So soon as he did but tread upon the earth it would serve him with a puissant army So Christ if He had but trod upon the Serpents head upon the Grave stone would it not have sufficed to have ransomed Lazarus and all the bodies that were buried Yes it had sufficed But this is dignum proclamatione fit for a loud voice to proclaim it Prayer like a good Angel went before it Publication like the Trumpet of Fame comes behind it You know it well says Paul to Agrippa speaking of the Resurrection it was not done in a corner Two Angels appeared in the Tomb where Christ rose from the dead Angelus nuncius Dei resurrectio erat annuncianda Angels are the Messengers of heaven and this is the prime and principal message Go tell Peter go tell my brethren How sollicitous was Christ to have it told Every one he met was sent to publish it And they that nestle in their Cells and forget this office summon them like dead men to come out of their Monuments Lazarus come forth This was matter for a loud voice then and business for the Pulpit now the suscitation of Lazarus but do you not disgrace the dignity of a Preacher when every petty vain occasion doth challenge the honour of a Sermon before it If ever there were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a good work marr'd for being done unseasonably Now it is when grace before meat will not serve the turn but every luxurious feast must have the Benediction of a Preachers pains before it Quis te ferat caenantem ut Lucullus concionantem ut Cato Much less is it to be endured that some body must make a Sermon because Lucullus hath made a Supper It is such a flout upon our Calling me thinks as the Chaldeans put upon the Jews in their Captivity they in the height of their jollity must have one of the Songs of Sion I have done with the Dignity of this work I proceed now to the Divinity thereof which is brancht out into these three powerful circumstances Mortuus excitatur a dead man is raised 2. Lazarus four days dead is raised 3. Lazarus who was bound is raised and comes forth Mortuus excitatur behold that principally a dead man is raised It is noted in Hierusalem that she was implacable against the Prophets of the Lord for twice our Saviour called upon her O Hierusalem Hierusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee and yet her anger would not cease no not for a double Admonition It is noted of St. Paul that his mind was most bitter against the Saints for Christ was fain to toll on both sides once and a second time to summon him by his name Saul Saul why persecutest thou me The persecuting Rage of Hierusalem was invincible the Malice of Saul was hardly bridled both more headstrong than Death it self Non sustinuit mors secundas voces Domini says St. Austin Death was obedient at the first Command our Saviour called but once and no more Lazarus come forth Could you blame St. Peter whose heart earned and was sorrowful that Christ said the third time Peter lovest thou me One word is enough to make Hell it self fly open O Lord are our Hearts more hard than Hell that thou hast so often spoken and still they are shut up Lewis the 11 th of France was wont to say that he passed away his time in making or marring of men an honest confession for whether they be Kings or meaner persons their power is prone as well to root up as to plant as well to pluck down as to set up a Building But Christ hath not only passed away time but meditated from all eternity how to make the World
and Man especially how to remake him and restore him again being consumed to ashes And therefore says Beda very well Mirati sunt discipuli de exiccatione arboris quia omnia ejus miracula antehà c erant ad bonum the Disciples did marvail exceedingly to see the Figtree cursed and wither away our Saviour did never meddle with any thing before but it was the better for him The Jews talkt of their priviledg to have one Prisoner let loose against the Feast and that was a sweet one the seditious Barabbas the true King of the Jews did let loose a Prisoner indeed against the Feast and that was holy Lazarus for this Miracle was wrought not long before the dolorous day of his Passion as you may see by the sequel of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom as who should say this was but an introduction to make the world believe in that great sign which followed the resurrection of the dead Non est admirationi una arbor cum tota sylva in eandem altitudinem excrescit says Seneca no notice is taken of one tall Cedar when all Lebanon is full of the like so we do not spend much admiration now upon the raising up of Lazarus because many dead bodies arose and appeared in the holy City yet upon the first delivery of this man from the Goal of death having been four days dead it was a thing not heard of and a matchless Miracle Demetrius as he was a most devillish Statesman so this was one of his Maxims as bad as any whosoever they be that stand in your way cut them off it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like those things which must be granted in the Art of Geometry before they can proceed any further The High-Priests and Pharisees had got this godly Lesson from their Father the Devil and because all the world did stare upon Lazarus as upon the great work of Christ needs must they consult how to kill him Was there ever a more foolish Senate when they saw Christ could raise him again as oft as he pleased yet the Projectors of the Sanhedrim set their wits and their cunning how to put Lazarus to death O happy man if he do fall into their hands if Christ will give them leave to cut him off Four days together hath he been dead that God and his blessed Son may be glorified in his suscitation once already did he loose his life for the honour of his Saviour let him be tormented be imprisoned be crucified the second time for Christs sake and who was ever so happy as Lazarus to make one poor life serve for a couple of Martyrdoms indeed it were an hard case as St. Austin sets it down ut idem homo semel nasceretur bis moreretur to be born once and to die twice and therefore St. Chrysostom would mollifie the matter that at this time of four days sleep 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was rather reposed in his Mothers Womb than in a Sepulcher but his condition in very deed was not pitiful but very fortunate to be born but once and to die twice for Gods honour But here is one question first and more will follow Was Lazarus stone dead as we say the Soul quite separated from the Body and the spirit departed or was it anima sopita but a Soul laid a sleep the functions being discharged from working for a time and no more If it were not so yet it is able to pose a man why Christ should say unto Mary and Martha non est infirmitas ad mortem this sickness is not unto death in the 4. verse of this Chapter to the Question afterwards to the Text in the first place The Scripture would be satisfied and so it shall Mors non imminebat ad mortem sed ad miraculum says Lira very well how shall I expound it to you the languishment of his sickness did not encroach upon him that death might close up his eyes for ever but to disclose a Miracle As Aristotle said he would have death called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the termination of life but not the end as if we liv'd only to die so this infirmity was not unto death as you would say to make it the end of the work but that God and his Son might be glorified To the Question then Totus Lazarus de monumento exit qui totus ibi non erat says St. Austin dead he was then and his Soul undoubtedly departed his Sisters that had tried their best for his recovery would not send him forth rashly to his Grave but that all conclusions whether any breath remained were first examined Nay should you take a living man and bind him with grave Cloths head and foot enough to smother him and lay him in a cold Rock of Stone so long in such sharp weather when after this time the High Priests had a Fire within doors in their Hall enough to starve him and let him want food four days enough to famish him I say though he had been laid in quick you would never more have heard of him till the general Resurrection and therefore Jesus said unto the Disciples plainly in verse 14. Lazarus is dead No Parable no figurative speech alas it was too true our Lord himself wept his friend Lazarus was departed Jesus said plainly Lazarus is dead Profundè mortuus sed altus est Christus in misericordiâ Christs mercy was deeper than the grave or he had never seen the day more Do not graceless Sinners the accursed seed of Cham do they not tremble at this says St. Austin Si amicus Christi moritur inimicus quid patiatur He is descended into the Grave whom our Saviour loved whither shall they go into what Bottom shall they be cast if there be a bottom whom he hates and refuses There is yet another Problem riseth up in this Text as well as Lazarus What say you to the Disciples that caught the words from our Saviours mouth as if Lazarus had been cast into a slumber our friend Lazarus sleepeth but I go to wake him I go to wake him What so far as Judea It is strange to think that the Disciples would believe a man went so far to raise up one that slept And yet when Christ spoke like a Divine they answered him like Physicians If he sleep he shall do well Utrumque verum Christus dixit Lazarus mortuus Lazarus dormit mortuus vobis dormit mihi all was true that Christ said both ways he spake good Divinity Lazarus is dead he was so dead to them that could not recover him Lazarus is asleep he was so no more than in a sleep to him that could restore him Do you not a little marvel that the Apostles should so misinterpret Christs meaning and take his words in at the left ear Why were they so slow to understand that to awake from
word of the power of Christ which coupled again those parts divorced the soul and body not by breathing a new life into the body but by breathing out a loud voice Lazarus come forth Such as had been but banished their Country in the days of Caesar the Dictator and were restored again by the grace of Augustus and Antony were called Charonitae as if they had been wasted back again into this world when they were quite extinguished Those Roman Potentates would be esteemed Gods of another world that could unlock a man from the fetters of banishment needs then must he be greater than the Kings of the earth whose authority can break the bars of death and bring the Prisoners forth from the captivity of corruption The Scythians says Lucian swear by these two Idols as the Gods of the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Wind and by the Sword Hic spirandi est autor ille mortis The one gives breath to live the other takes life away Now that which gives life and that which takes away life can be no less than a God say the very Scythians These heathen knew no more of Gods power than to give life and to take away life Had they known what it was to restore life again that would have been the chief power of divinity even in their estimation Majus est restituere quà m dare quantò miserius est perdidisse quà m omnino non accepisse It is more admirable to restore the soul again than to create it at the first because it is more miserable for the body to have lost a soul than never to have received it The great Clerks the Athenians could not tell what to make of the infinite power of the Resurrection It is pretty that St. Chrysostome observes upon them Acts xvii when Paul preached unto them and mentioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Resurrection of the dead they thought this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had been a God the unknown God at whose Altar they did worship Evil men can abuse that which is good God can make good employment of that which is evil Death upon the first sin was named to be a punishment It is Meritoria in Martyribus and I may say Gloriosa in resurgentibus it is made an instrument of great reward unto the Martyrs and the passage to an Article of faith to believe in the Resurrection We call them that are dead in the Lord Abraham and Isaac and Jacob alas there are no such now Abraham dissolved into dust is no longer Abraham the soul cannot be called Abraham only the whole man both soul and body but so sted fastly do we trust the dead shall rise again Quod defunctorum animas nominibus suppositi appellamus says Thomas We speak of the dead as if they were now alive because they shall live again even as Christ spake to the corps of Lazarus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not as to a Corps but as to one living not as to one that was dead but as to ears that could hear Lazarus come forth And it is well says the Father that among all the Corpses in the dust Christ pickt him out by name as who should say now I will have none but Lazarus to come forth others shall appear in their time otherwise all the Legions of the dead had come to light and stood thick upon the earth from the East unto the West Indeed the souls under the Altar cry our Quousque Domine fain would they stand before him like Enoch and Elias so eager they are and vehement instantly to have tongues to speak and hands to hold up and knees and heads to bow as if they were not contented that their days to come for those things were days of eternity We shall meet together all in the same Livery cloathed with bodies of youth according to the measure of our Saviours Age Eph. iv Alexander out of a surly Magnificence Soli Antipatro Phocioni salutem scripsit in Epistolis never wrote in the top of his Letters I wish you long life and prosperity but only to Phocion and Antipater But God will direct his voice to every member of his Church one summon shall call forth Abraham and Isaac and all the world which at this time begins for a relish of faith but with this person alone Lazarus come forth And thus much for the first thing wherein the power of his Divinity appeared Mortuus excitatur a dead Man was raised Now that Lazarus after four days was raised that he which was bound came forth of the Grave is discourse for some other time Thus much only in a word upon the present occasion The next thing that you shall read concerning Lazarus after he was raised is this he sate at Supper with our Saviour in the second verse of the next Chapter Why behold the Supper of the Lord there is the next place where you are to meet with Christ after you are risen from your sins and the preparation of this Table to replenish your hungry souls with grace is as great a testimony of our Saviours Divinity as to raise up Lazarus Tu das epulis accumbere Divum it is the highest power of God which he confers to his Church upon earth to give them leave to meet together before the food of Angels As Manna melted away with the Sun-rising and new store fell upon earth the next morning which is a kind of Resurrection so you that have quenched Gods Spirit that have melted away his grace and let it putrifie for want of good employment this is the Morning this is the Season to gather a new Omer full that you may cherish and increase your faith Which that you may do c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION JOHN xi 44. And he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face was bound about with a Napkin THis is an Easterday Text notwithstanding that the party intreated of is Lazarus for as John Baptist was born a little before the birth of Christ and John was the Forerunner of his Nativity so Lazarus rose from death but a little before Christ rose and was the Forerunner of his Resurrection The Jews Passover was nigh at hand so you shall read in the 55. verse of this Chapter certainly it was not long before Christ the true Paschal Lamb was offered upon the Cross that this Miracle was done Feriâ sextâ ante Dominicam de Passione says one the Friday before Passion Sunday which is nine days past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom he put them into admiration with this work before this great day of admiration came Nor have we a Praeludium only how our Saviour should conquer death in this Chapter but you shall resent and perceive some resurrection wrought upon every person that had interest in this story First the news of Lazarus death was brought unto Christ beyond
Jordan his Disciples being with him What did this advantage them why Mors Lazari cum Lazaro discipulorum fides surgit cum sepulto says Chrysologus Lazarus was translated from death to life and this did increase the Disciples faith which lay half dead before 2. Martha sollicits for her Brother and 't is strange that Christ came to Bethany on purpose for Lazarus sake and yet spent more time with Martha than with them all The case is plain says Theophylact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alas her belief was near unto death almost quite gone and Christ came especially to quicken her with his grace that was Martha's resurrection 3. Her Sister Mary was a woful woman and she falls down in compassion about out Saviours feet St. Austin takes her to be the very same Mary that was the publick sinner which washt his feet with her tears and wip'd them with the hairs of her head Luke 7. whereupon he infers Maria peccatrix magis resuscitabatur quà m Lazarus Mary the Sinner was more revived when she was made a penitent Saint than Lazarus was when he was made a living man that was Marries resurrection 4. Here were divers Jews that came to comfort the two Sisters they were witnesses of this work and did glorifie God and believe Christ thanked his Father for it Whereupon says St. Ambrose Non unum Lazarum sed fidem omnium suscitavit it was a Resurrection day not for Lazarus alone but for the faith of all the multitude that were present whether they were the Disciples or Martha or Mary or the multitude of the Jews they had not been as they were if Christ had not made one in every part of the Miracle wherefore let us make a difference between them that came to gaze and them that came to believe a Miracle from the twelfth of this Gospel and the ninth verse The Jews came not only for Jesus sake but to see Lazarus also We come not together this day so much to see Lazarus reviv'd as to see the strength of Jesus above the power of death I have entred once before into this verse and the former both which rise up into two eminent heads like Tabor and Hermon First it is a work of great Dignity that 's one part and a work of great Divinity that 's the other part The Dignity consists in these two points First in that which Christ had spoken before when he had thus said and what was that he prayed unto his Father wherefore it is dignum oratione a work worthy of a Prayer for the preparation Secondly it is dignum proclamatione it was cried with a loud voice and fit to be publisht to all the world The Divinity appears in these three Circumstances 1. Exeat mortuus that a dead man was summon'd to appear 2. Exeat quatriduanus Lazarus after four days departure comes forth 3. Exeat ligatus he that was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin he comes forth of the Monument O strange Divinity the Sepulchers which were shut did open for Christ did call who had the key of David the dead who lay in silence could hear his tongue for it was the same voice which makes the Hinds to bring forth young ones the Body which lay putrified four days gave no offence in the smel Christ was at hand who is a sweet favour for us unto God the feet which were bound with Grave-cloaths could walk before him for in him we live and move and have our being Was not this work worthy of a Prayer was it not worthy of a Proclamation so far I have gone already as likewise into the first Circumstance of the Divinity that a dead man was raised up As Aelian says of the Sybarites that they invite their Guests to a Feast a just year before the day of the Feast so long is it since I promised you the dispatch of this Text and now I am come to perform it you see what remains for this hours employment the two latter Circumstances Quatriduanus excitatur Lazarus is raised up after he had been four days in the Grave and 2 ligatus excitatur it was he that was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin two strange parts of his resurrection not lightly to be passed over for to speak of a Miracle suddenly and in a word non dat lucem videntibus sed pavorem it is like lightning says one the flash that glides by of a sudden it may terrifie the eye but not enlighten it First of ille quatriduanus he came forth alive who had been four days asleep in the Monument It is hard to perswade death to part with any thing it hath gotten The Devil strove with the Angel about the Body of Moses think you that Death would not strive with Christ much more about the Soul of Lazarus what a Guest of four dayes continuance and let him go I may say to the Grave as the Prophet said to Ahab for letting Benhadad escape Why hast thou let a man go out of thy hand who was appointed to utter destruction Wherefore St. Chrysostom brings in Death to complain of this fact for a sore grievance on this wise Elias rais'd up a Child whose soul was departed for a time Elisha did as much likewise this I took for a violence done to nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but here 's a Conqueror that 's more violent than them both he takes a dead man out of my chaws who stinks and hath been four days in the Sepulcher The same Father replies again this is a small thing to raise up one from burial after four days do you complain of that what if he were putrified what if he were dry bones what if he were dust and clay yea what if that dust were converted into other creatures Adam shall be cloathed again with flesh Noah hath lived in two Worlds he shall live again in a third And according to the Basil Edition of the 72. Job was one of those that rose and appeared in the holy City unto many Matth. 27. Si attendamus quis fecit delectari debemus potiùs quà m mirari says St. Austin If we do but attend who it is that doth all these things we shall rather break out into a passion of Joy than into Admiration For Christ that died for us and rose again for our Justification he hath the Keys of Life and Death and therefore we shall not see corruption for ever Martha had a faith that God could raise up her Brother again and that He would do it if Christ would pray unto him I know even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God God will give it thee O Woman says Chrysologus thou art yet but of little faith Judex ipse est quem tu postulas Advocatum Wouldest thou make Christ thine Advocate to plead thy Cause Nay Comfort is nearer at hand he is the Judge whom thou
Paul and when we do those things which Nature her self is asham'd at and blusheth then we are dead the second day 3. God gave us a Law by Moses for the spark which he had kindled in nature was almost put out and it was time to dig that into stone which was worn out in flesh and he that violates the Law of Moses is dead the third day 4. Sin is grown strong by the Law Precept upon Precept made us the worse corruption in the soul is like an ill affected body it desires that most which is forbidden And therefore Christ gave us Legem Evangelii a short Lesson Repent and believe which is called the Law of the Gospel and if we violate that Law it is the fourth day of death and we begin to stink in the Sepulcher What an hard task hath Christ what a troublesome work have we put him to to diminish the power of original sin to rectifie the impairs and decays of Nature to satisfie for the Law but above all to mollifie a stony heart that will not believe to quicken an unrepentant heart this is dignus vindice nodus Martha and Mary sent to Christ when their Brother was sick to come and help now he had more need of Christ quatriduanus est this is the Parable of a sinner that will not believe the Gospel Help Lord and raise us up for who else can do it but the Lord Five Miracles you shall meet with in this Gospel of St. John four of which are recorded by no other Evangelist every one is greater than another but this is the Master-piece The first was turning of Water into Wine at Cana in Galilee Christ at the first conversion makes us quite other men than we were before cold water becoms warm and chearful wine 2. Follows the scourging of the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple that signifies contrition and compunction of the heart when theevish fancies such as steal away our soul are cashiered from the holy place 3. A man was healed at Bethesda that had been sick of an infirmity 38 years Custom in sin and want of devotion is a sore languishing sickness it is more to cure them than to cast the den of theeves out of the Temple 4. A man born blind was restored to his sight he that languished 38 years had enjoyed health before but he that was born blind was never better and it exceeded all the rest to dispel ignorance and blindness quando synteresis extincta est when the light of the conscience was quite put out But fifthly what talk we of sickness or blindness the dead man the Graves Tenant for four dayes dead by original sin dead by imperfection of nature dead by disobedience to the Law dead by unbelief and want of faith in Christ dead four days is raised up Tollite lapidem says Christ away with the stone removete legis pondus gratiam praedicate away with the burden that lies heavy upon him preach grace and remission of sins unto him and he shall live Behold another Moral of the same Authors in the Sermons de tempore if they be St. Austins Sin when it is made very sinful grows up by four degrees titillatione consensu facto consuetudine 1. By delighting in the suggestions of sin not but that suggestions of sin are sin but I speak of the growth of sin and not the root 2. By consenting to those delights 3. By committing the evil whereunto we consented 4. By continuing in the custom of delight and consent and committing evil Delight is the rotting of the seed in the ground Consent is the blade Commission of evil is the grown fruit Custom is the root that fastens it to the ground the seed may quickly be pickt up the blade may be blasted the fruit may be cut down but the root lies deep hidden you must plow and turn up the earth and dig deep before you can get it out In the 3 former parts the waves of ungodliness are coming up but custom is the inundation of iniquity the stream that goes over our head It was said of one Mandrabulus that the Oracle of Apollo pronounced against him that he grew worse and worse For out of a thankful mind for all his happiness received the first year he offered up a Gold Cup he repented him of his cost and the next year it was a Cup of Silver yet he thought he was too bountiful and the third year it was a Boul of Wood the fourth year he thought he had been thankful enough and gave just nothing Now says Apollo is Mandrabulus as bad as He can be So the heart which pleaseth it self with vicious cogitations is much corrupted yet God may still have the better part The heart that makes a bargain with Satan to do injustice is half the Devil 's yet the Body is not defiled with the act The body also may be an instrument of uncleanness then the heart is even lost and gone yet it may detest the fact and return unto the Lord. But when custom hath as it were sealed the Covenant to the Devil and delivered up the Deed the case is very desperate all the heart is in the enemies hand Lazarus is under a Grave-stone four days Difficilè surgit quem moles malae consuetudinis premit he will hardly swim above water again that is cast into the bottom of the Gulf with a Milstone of evil custom about his neck Yet Christ can quicken him as he did Lazarus I do not deny it but let no man treasure up sin as it were to prepare himself to repent of such a mass of iniquities but let no man dispair of that repentance if frailty have overtaken him If you feel your self incline to presume of repentance says St. Austin oppose against it the uncertain hour of death if you feel your self incline to despair of repentance oppose against it the abundance of grace Moderation is the best When sin doth post from delight to consent from consent to act from act to custom yet after four days says Christ Lazarus come forth So much of that circumstance Lazarus quatriduanus that being four days dead he was raised up to life It follows to be considered Lazarus ligatus he was bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin He was laid like a pledge in the grave and bound for security Christ was willing to release him some bonds he cancelled himself and some he left to be untied by others As for the bonds of death God did bind them and unloose them as for the bonds of the grave-cloaths let them unknit them that made the knot God did unty that which God bound let men unty their own work and then they are sure there can be no deceit As if our Saviour had said I know you will say of Lazarus as you did of the man born blind This is not he Will you deny it But here is your own
bond can you deny that Is not this Lazarus See but what infirmity Christ pretended in the beginning of this work and how powerfully it ended Jesus wept in the 35 verse as if it were a pitiful case indeed but he could not help it He asked where they had laid him Lord dost thou ask for the grave which was hard by and yet knowst thine own self no man told thee being two days journey from Bethany that Lazarus was dead Then he ask'd for help to take away the stone Debile initium miraculi a weak beginning God knows how should we expect that he should open the gates of Hell that with a word doth not command the Sepulchers to open Doth this offend you What and if you see not only a dead man after four days raised to life but also to walk before you when his feet and hands were bound As if he moved like an Angel rather by the will of his own Spirit than by bodily instruments This was the conclusion of the Miracle and whatsoever the beginning was the end was admirable As Samson went away with the Pin and the Web Judg. xvi 14. which were tied to his hair whatsoever Delilah bound him with still he walked So Lazarus went away with his bonds as if he had triumphed over death and carried the Ensigns away that is the grave-cloaths with him Peters Chains fell off from his hands and so he avoided the imprisonment of Herod Peter thought so strangely of this to walk when his fetters were off that a great while he wist not it was true that was done but thought he saw a vision What did Peter think of Lazarus then For he was one that stood by His eyes were blindfold that he could not see his way the hands are the blind mans Candle and serve to feel out the way and they had Manicles The feet had Shackles that should tread the way Yet as if he had flown out of the Grave rather than walked Lazarus came forth he was in the Sepulchre shortly to be brought forth as if he had been hatching in his mothers womb rather than in a Cave of interred men He was says St. Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a babe new born wrapt in swadling clouts rather than like one in a winding sheet But when he walk'd without the use of feet or hands he was like Paul wrapt up into the third heavens whether in the body or out of the body he knew not It is a great comfort unto us says Irenaeus that Lazarus came forth cap-a-pe the same man that he was laid in the Grave nothing altered about him Igitur eâdem animâ eodem corpore sumus resurrecturi it shall be our own body it shall be our own soul in the Resurrection no substances newly created Lazarus could best speak for the soul that it must be his own because his former fancy and remembrance still remained And his Sisters could speak for the body they knew what they had foulded up and what they found when they had unfoulded it And therefore some think that it was unto Martha and Mary that Christ spake in the end of this verse Loose him and let him go When Elias raised up the Son of the Widow of Sarepta to life he gave him to his Mother when Elisha restored the Shunamites Child to life he gave him to his Mother when Christ raised up Lazarus from the Grave he puts him into the hands of his Sisters that they may unty what they had bound before nay when he rose from death himself he appeared first to Mary Magdalen What is the reason that at every turn the women had the Resurrection first declared unto them Because they did first occasion death therefore to shew that by faith they were excusable of the fault they had the first news of the life of them that rose again Lord says Martha if thou hadst been here my brother had not died She put all the fault upon the absence of Christ Nay woman says Chrysologus Nisi tu fuisses in paradiso If thou hadst not been in Paradise thy brother had not died But Lazarus is bound that you may unty him and give him breath who first did stop his breath by eating the forbidden fruit Exiit ligatus he came forth bound Lazarus was not glorified in body by this Miracle as the Saints shall be yet here you shall see one of the properties of a glorified body and they are reckoned up to be four by the Schoolmen Claritas incorruptibilitas spiritualitas motus agilitas 1. There shall be an exceeding brightness in those bodies as our Saviours body shined so white at the Transfiguration that no Fuller could make a thing so white 2. They shall be incorruptible Summer and Winter Fire and Sword could do them no violence as Christ said unto Mary Touch me not 3. They shall not be gross like our bodies and sustained with meat It is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body 4. It shall be nimble in motion like an Angel flying as Philip did from Gaza in the Desart to Azotus suddenly gliding upon the wings of the wind not depending upon feet as we do and to prefigure this property in a glorified body hereafter Lazarus came forth bound The vulgar Translation puts in a word to make the Miracle more strange Statim exiit that Lazarus came instantly forth without delay though his feet and hands were bound and his face with a Napkin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Nonnus he came not out like one that was shackled and halted because of his impediments he ran swiftly before them all For Christ useth not to do his work lamely and by halves St. Chrysostome makes this comparison As a horse and his Rider listen at the Race when the word shall be given and take it at the first syllable to be gone So says he as soon as Christ had but said Lazarus come forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he started out like the horse at his game and came on with speed and chearfulness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like one that watch'd the Sepulcher rather than the Corps Chrysologus brings in the Devil who is the Jaylor of death wonderfully amazed that our Saviour called for a dead Corps and makes him to speak thus Let him have the man he calls for let him have him bound hand and foot if he will let us not stay so long as to unty the knots make no delay Ne dum tardius unum referimus omnes cogeremur afferre lest while we prolong the time to restore one dead man he should call unto the Graves to restore them all As Luther called upon the Pope at first to have but one error amended concerning indulgences and while he trifled and hung off to do that Luther cried so loud that he caused divers Churches most happily to mend twenty more So death hastned away Lazarus being bound lest if he staid more would follow him As the
you will leave at that Idem facis ac qui è monte se praecipitans velit sistere says Tully You are unwise as he that did cast himself headlong from a steepy rock and thought he could stop before he lost his breath Sin hath no moderation Qui facit peccatum est servus peccati He that commits sin is the servant of sin you cannot play fast and loose with the Devil If you be once bound it will ask you plenty of tears and many groans of repentance that Christ may make you free Sin is not like the green wit hs that tied Samson and brake like a thread of Tow but like the fetters cast upon poor Joseph The Iron entred into his soul says David It is such a long captivity as the Jews suffred in Babylon it trusseth you up as the tares were bound in bundles for everlasting fire Mat. xiii Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the Leopard his spots Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil Jer. xiii 23. Now because sin is a bond especially sin that is enormous and scandalous not only Satan by inclining them to evil but God in his justice holds them fast to it that they cannot get loose For the Priest he casts another bond upon that Quodcunque lig averitis whatsoever you bind upon earth they bind none but incorrigible and contumacious sinners that is one bond for another and then the Lords bond is thrown upon them both whatsoever you bind upon earth it is bound in heaven the bond of iniquity is upon the sinner the bond of Ecclesiastical Censure is upon the bond of iniquity the bond of Gods judgment ratifies the bond of Ecclesiastical Censure How can the planchers fly out when they are thus hoopt about A threefold cord is not easily broken Ligantur poenâ qui ligati fuerunt culpâ à bonis operibus says Lira They are bound over to eternal punishment in the life to come who in this life bound themselves from doing good Thirdly Let us understand what it is for a sinner to be bound hand and foot Manus non extensae ad eleemosynam pedes tardi ad bonum so says the Gloss Hands that were shut to the poor and gave no Alms feet that have not frequently walked to the house of God these were bound in this life when they should have executed their Function and then follows Take him and bind him hand and foot and cast him into utter darkness Mat. xxii The hand is the principal Engine of all other instruments and if it be bound we may direct much perchance yet can execute nothing But there is no musick in that eloquence where the tongue perswades enough but the hand is like the hand of Jeroboam dried up and withered He that takes upon him to teach and direct let his hands be loose that he may give a demonstration of his Doctrine in his own works and then it is powerful Dux consilio miles exemplo as it was said of Caesar He gave the counsel of a General he did the work of a Common Souldier The Sun under a Cloud looks as if his glorious beams were shut up and imprisoned So it is a dark and a gloomy Profession of Piety to cast no beams abroad let your light shine before men that they may see your good works If your hands I mean your good deeds be bound up the bonds are such as Lazarus had and worse the swadling bonds of eternal death Pedes sunt affectus sensuales qui terrae adhaerent that is the usual Moral by feet are understood our sensual Passions and Affections which cleave unto the earth Indeed Lazarus will walk better with those feet when they are obedient to reason and bound to her Law than when they are loose and run their own ways Excellent Servants to be guided but unruly Masters to command O let your affections be set upon heaven above and not fix themselves upon earth beneath and then you may say with David I will run the way of thy Commandments So much for the binding of the hands and feet The last Point and that which shuts up all is to open this Mystery that Lazarus his face was bound with a Napkin Lazarus came forth with his winding-sheet about his body with his Napkin about his face here again is the Resurrection of Lazarus distinguished from the Resurrection of Christ As for Christs grave cloaths Peter look'd in and saw them wrapt together when his body was without And what caused this difference Beloved Why first to answer a false rumour which belied both Christ and his Disciples at once even for that cause our Saviours linnen cloaths were left behind in the Monument You will say his Disciples came by night and stole him away But if they took out the body why did they leave the linnen cloaths behind Had desperate thieves such leisure to uncase him and to fold up several parcels by themselves when a guard of Souldiers were round about them Now when as no such objection should be made against Lazarus he came forth with his winding sheet knit about his hands and feet and his face with a Napkin 2. Lazarus rose out of the Grave but to die again he was virbius One poor life served him to change it for two deaths and therefore he came abroad like a mortal man with his raggs wrapt about him to cover his nakedness But Christs says Nissen rose to immortality and therefore left those clouts in the grave which had been cast about him That blessed life which we shall enjoy needs not garments to cloath the body In the days of innocency Adam and Eve walked naked and were not ashamed they saw no uncomliness in it Then shall apparel much less be an ornament to a glorified body And therefore Elias mounting up to heaven in the fiery Chariot left his Mantle with Elisha But he in our Text returned to the estate of frailty and corruption his face was covered with a Napkin Thirdly says St. Austin Lazarus in the Tomb was the figure of a sinful man Lazarus coming forth was the type of one that was born again and is regenerate But as touching a man new born and regenerate still there remain in him Vinculum peccati velumignorantiae The intanglements of some sins and the vail of ignorance The bonds about the feet and the Napkin about the face But as for Christs linnen cloaths in whom there was nor sin nor ignorance but a soul full of grace and truth why should he carry away his Shrowd or his Kercher No he bequeathed them to the earth and left them to the Monument Let us be wise unto salvation and not too curious in searching these things the Text doth admonish us For why was Lazarus his face covered though his Spirit was returned unto him again St. Austin answers Quod in hâc vitâ per speculum videmus in aenigmate postea autem facie ad
come unto the Sepulcher it was for the consolation of their Antecedent grief It was to shew them a difference between their bringing forth a child to life and Gods resuscitating our dead bones It was expedient to have a testimony from such harmless Witnesses And Mary Magdalen is supereminently named above them all for she was a most contrite penitent and Christ died for their sins and rose again for their Justification It is my course now according to the Propositions of my Text to remove forward to the meditation of her love which was so constant even after death that she came unto the Sepulcher of our Lord. A faith though it be never so weak never so languishing yet it will produce some effect which is worth the noting For instance as I cannot maintain but there was a defect in this womans faith so according to that little faith no man shall deny but there was a great deal of love As concerning faith it is apparent that she mistook the Scriptures in two things First that she thought to find Christ's body in the Sepulcher as if it were possible he could be held of death longer than the third day The Angel gave an item to the women that their coming was a vain labour Why seek ye the living among the dead Remember what he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee He did foretel it so expressively how he would rise from the Grave after three days that all his enemies took notice of the saying but those women were hard of belief or else they had forgot it Secondly It was Maries error and common to all her Partners to bring Spices to anoint our Saviours body the other Evangelists express that they came with such preparations purposing to apply them to the Corps that it might not putrifie It seems they understood not David Thou shalt not suffer thine holy One to see corruption It was not thought upon as it fell out that the flesh of Jesus was not like ours which is rank and sinful his was pure and undefiled which had never deserved to suffer rottenness and putrefaction And they ignorantly come to the Sepulcher with Spices to embalm him that his body might not be polluted But is there no way to excuse this forgetful and deceived faith It is a good mixture of praise and dispraise which a certain Author puts together It was an error not to be defended to think that Christ was held of death and lay still in the Sepulcher but because the custom to anoint dead bodies was an assured hope that the flesh should rise again to immortality therefore setting their particular error aside touching the person of Christ in general their respect was full of faith and honour and devotion toward the Resurrection of the body which general notion of so good an Article of faith won them pardon for this particular incredulity But I said before concerning this little faith no man must deny but she shewed a great deal of love As Thomas noted into what danger our Saviour imbarked himself when he told his Disciples Lazarus is dead and we will go unto him Let us also go and die with him says Thomas So there was Souldiers abroad to watch the Sepulcher Spies in every corner from the High Priests to mark who did confess and honour our Saviour to go to his Tomb was in effect to say let us go and die with him we care not for our lives True love esteems it sweet to suffer for his sake to whose memory their affection is constantly devoted And why did she address unto the Sepulcher A stone was rouled upon the mouth of the Grave and it was sealed with Pilates Seal she could see nothing but she drew near to that which she loved to see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostome It did her good to walk in that Garden where the body of the Son of God was laid such a Garden which inclosed him who was the Flower of Jessai saies the Prophet This was a Paradise to overmatch that Garden which was once in Eden by how much the second Adam risen here from death to life was better than the first Adam who fell there from life to death This was such a place as could not chuse but strike her with reverence as Moses stood before the bush which burnt with fire and the bush was not consumed so Mary came to stand before the Sepulcher where that divine body lay the first fruits of them that ever rose from the dead the Spear had entred his heart the whips and thorns had torn his flesh yet by his own power he lived again the bush was not consumed Think with thy self if thou wert now kneeling by that Cave of the earth where thy Saviours body lay what abundance of tears it would make thee shed for thy sins What a desire of heaven it would beget in thy soul What a contempt of this loathsom earth I do ever rise up from those relations which I read or which Pilgrims make of those places with a mortified heart Certainly Helen the Mother of Constantine St. Hierom and Paula made an admirable use to enflame their zeal by frequenting this very place which Mary did And my knowledge and Religion are in a dream or else Devotion without superstition is the most heavenly thing in the world We come into the Capitol sayes Tully only to please our eyes with looking upon that Bench in the Senate where the renowned Orator Crassus was wont to sit So Mary Magdalen came with a resolved opinion that it would give her great consolation to come near that place where Joseph had interred her Saviour St. John's History is brief and hath made him omit this clause of the Story remembred in St. Luke That they came with Spices which they had prepared with sweet spices that they might anoint him says St. Mark Why Joseph and Nicodemus had bought an hundred pound weight of Myrrh and Aloes and wrapped them with the body of Jesus was not that enough Pardon them if they over-do their part Amor non credit satis esse factum nisi ipse faciat says one cordial love thinks all is not done that should be unless it self be at the doing This chargeable spicing and anointing the dead was in use among the Gentiles for so they interred their deceased friends who are men of renown and Nobility So the Greek Poet reckons this Ceremony in the Funerals of Patroclus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Virgils Misenus Corpusque lavant frigentis ungunt Donatus the Grammarian gave no other reason but this Ut cadavera mortuorum citiù◠flammam conciperent To make the Carkasses consume to ashes the faster when they were put upon a pile of wood to be burnt Although others gather out of the Heathen that they esteemed it Piety to wash away all filthiness from the Câ—rpses of the deceased and the Officers that took the care of such things were called
of Heaven and all the Stars thereof Moreover Vna Sabbati litterally rendred is not the first but one day of the Week because one is the first ground to begin numbring and Theophilact says the Lords day is called the one day of the Week either because it is the only day from whence the blessing is procured for all the rest or besides it is a figure of the life to come Quando una tantum dies est nequaquam nocte interpolata when there shall be but one day for ever and no night of darkness to interrupt it Thus much of the words The matter of the Point is of a more profitable use And hence I begin that as God the Father upon the first day did begin to make this visible world of Creatures so Christ rose the same day from the dead to signifie that a new Age was then begun Resurrectio est alterius mundi spiritualis creatio says Justin Martyr The Resurrection is well called a creation of a new spiritual world On the first day of the Week God said Let there be light and he divided between the light and the darkness Verily on that wise on the first day of the Week God brought the light of the world out of the darkness of the Grave and the life says St. John was the light of men Now this infinite work to tread death under feet and to bring all flesh out of corruption into the state of immortality being more eximious than to make man in a possibility at first to die and perish therefore all Christian Churches have desisted to meet together at holy exercises upon the Sabbath of the Jews and the first day of the Week is the day appointed to sanctifie out selves unto the Lord for what reason I will now unfold and it is a case of no small perplexity And let me auspicate from the Text and Authority of Holy Scripture and these places following do conspire to verifie the Truth Acts xx 7. Paul abode seven days at Troas the seventh day of his abode was the first day of the Week then and not before it seems upon the first day of the Week when the Disciples came together to break Bread that is to partake of the Lords Supper Paul preacht unto them This seems to approve that in the Apostles time it was no more in use for their Disciples to meet upon the Sabbath but as well to honor the Resurrection as to separate from the Rites and Customs of the Jews in the Spirit of God they did convene together on the first day of the Week From Preaching and Administring the Holy Communion let us come to Collection of Alms. 1 Cor. xvi 2. Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come How can this be expounded but that distributions were made to the poor upon the first day of the Week in their most solemn Assemblies For if the meaning were that every man should set apart a share of his own gains upon that day in his private Coffers and not in the publick Treasury when their Congregations were together then Collections had been to be made from house to house when Paul was to come who desires it might be laid up in readiness as it were in one stock before 'T is pity we are faln from that good order but in the most antient Church I find that they never miss'd to carry the Poors Box about every Lords Day witness this place of St. Cyprian Locuples es dives Dominicam celebrare te credis quae Corbanam omnino non respicis Thou that art rich and wealthy dost thou imagin thou keepest the Lords Day as thou oughtest and dost cast nothing into the Treasury Thirdly as the last day of the Week when God rested from his works was called the Sabbath of the Lord so it is of much moment to the point that the first day of the Week is called the Day of the Lord or the Lords Day Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lords Day as it appears Rev. i. 13. John was walking on the Sea shore meditating upon holy things in the Isle of Patmos Very probable that there was no solemn meeting to praise God as it ought to have been among those Pagan Islanders otherwise John had not betaken himself to solitary Meditations but see how he was recompensed Nactus est Doctorem ipsum Deum quando fortasse deessent quos ipse doceret when he was disconsolate because he wanted Auditors to teach God preached unto him the Mysteries of the Age to come But to enforce the Text forenamed for an Argument we have but two things in the New Testament called the Lords the Sacrament is called the Supper of the Lord 1 Cor. xi 20. and this day of Christian Assemblies is called the Lords Day the Lords Prayer and the Lords House are good Phrases but our own not the Scriptures but as we keep the Feast of Passeover no more but instead thereof eat the Lords Supper so neither do we observe the Jews Sabbath any more but instead thereof we keep the Lords Day Thus far I have prest the Authorities of Sacred Scripture The Authority of the Primitive Church and so downward to this Age will convince it clearly against any that is obstinate Ignatius was St. John's Scholar and as if he had learnt of his Teacher he writes thus Let every lover of Christ celebrate the Lords Day which is dedicated to the honor of his Resurrection the Queen and Princess of all days Justin Martyr commands the same day to be kept holy to the Lord every Week in his 2. Apolog. So doth Tertullian more than once and I cited St. Cyprian before The Council of Laodicea speaks thus resolutely Anathema to all those that rest upon the Sabbath let them keep the Lords Day when they observe a vacancy of labor and do as becometh Christians The great Council of Nice doth not command the first day of the Week to be kept holy but supposeth in the 20. Canon all good Christians would admit that without scruple and then appoints other significant Ceremonies to be kept upon the Lords Day from Easter to Whitsontide I need not reckon downward after the Nicen Council because in one word I have not heard or read that it was opposed by any of the Fathers They knew that an appointed time must be allotted for every necessary Duty and certainly upon the abrogation of the Old Sabbath not Man but God did appoint a time for so necessary a thing as the religious Service of his Name Christ made an end of all Sabbaths by his own Sabbath lying all that day and night in the Grave and to hold that the Sabbath which is but a Shadow is to continue is to hold that Christ the Body is not yet come yet that being laid apart let us
as when a bow-string is snapt in twain yet both parts of the strings do still remain in the nocks of the Bow So the body of our Saviour was holy and venerable because it retained the personal union of the Godhead and the Sepulcher where it was reposed deserved the attendance of an Angel Fourthly If not an Angel who else would be believed in so great a matter as this was Tell me who could give testimony beside that would be credited The Disciples were never so tardy to conceive never so unapprehensive in any thing else as in this They knew not as yet what the rising from the dead did mean Observe the talk of Cleophas and the other Disciple Luk. xxiv 21. And guess at all the company beside They confess Christ had been a Prophet mighty in word and deed whom Pilate and the Rulers had condemned to death and crucified but we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel As who should say being he is dead there is an end of our hope we look for no more redemption from him God loves to have better witnesses than these in all his works that we may not say he takes us unprepared we were not well wrought to credulity David said it in his haste what if he had said it upon premeditation All men are liars It was not fit so fundamental an Article of faith as this was should be preatcht at first time by lying lips nay rather by an Angel who was confirmed in grace that he would not lie And how little had the authority of any man swayed Mary Magdalen to believe when albeit an Angel had told her the truth how Christ was risen yet she distrusts and runs to Peter and John with a quite contrary tale that some body had taken away her Masters body and she knew not where they had laid it and therefore because an Angel could not put that faith into her Christ took it in hand and disclosed himself Fifthly An Angel appears at the mouth of the Grave after Christ came to life again who is the first fruits of our Resurrection which is in effect to promise that we shall be exalted after death to the society of Angels Thus a worthy Author observed it before me The finding of an Angel in the place of dead bodies is for a pledge that there is a possibility and hope that dead bodies may come into the place of Angels Why not the bodies in the Grave to be advanced in heaven one day as well as the Angels in heaven to be about the Grave this day And I pray you mark it with me There are many Apparitions of Angels recorded in holy Scripture yet this one time and no more if I be not mistaken an accurate description is made what manner of Robe and Garment they did seem to wear His countenance was like lightning and his rayment white as snow in the next verse to my Text. The Holy Ghost would never have instanced in the bright colour of the Garment but to shew with what Angelical shapes we shall be cloathed in the Resurrection 6. Lastly Angels desire to be present at every thing wherein mankind is benefited that they may rejoyce with us No envy no malignity in them that we shall be made perfect in both parts of nature both in body and soul and so in that respect exceed them who are only spiritual substances For they that rejoyce when one sinner is converted how much more do they rejoyce that all mankind shall be deliver'd from the Prisons of death and beautified with immortality they fought with the Devil about the Body of Moses they will strive with death and corruption about the restauration of our bodies For God will send forth his Angels and they shall gather his Elect from the four corners of the earth this is meant of their Ministry to rake up our bones and dust together at the great day of the Resurrection Surgente Christo terrenis redditur coeleste commercium now Angels came down in bodily shapes because Christ had exalted frail flesh unto incorruption now they talk familiarly to Gods servants as with the tongues of men because our tongues shall be made Psalteries of the divine praise for ever I have done with the Angels descent from heaven and now I come to the third motion which was particularly about our Saviours Sepulchre He came and rolled back the stone from the door When you hear that the door of our Saviours Sepulchre was a great stone and a stone rolled upon it you must not conceive the manner by such Tombs and Monuments as we have now adaies Neither will I refer you to those types and Medals which are printed now adaies and taken from the fashion of the Sepulchre which at this day is to be seen in the Holy City and is kept by certain Orders of Friars with great reverence For with what assurance can I say it is the same Sepulchre wherein our Saviour lay when Eusebius says that in the reign of Constantine the Emperor the place was nothing but a rude heap of earth so that there was no memory remaining of our Saviours Burial place But those of the learned that seem to me to speak probably say thus Jerusalem was seated upon a rocky place so that all their chief Monuments were digged out of stony Quarries Every Family of noble reputation as the learned Casaubon notes it out of the Rabbies had a Sepulchre proper to it self with a certain number of hollow places or excavations to receive the Corpses of that Family Some say there were wont to be thirteen in every Vault some say but eight In such a Vault belonging to Joseph of Arimathaea was Christ laid a rocky stony Moument it was lest some should say he was digg'd out by some secret Mine a new one wherein never any had been laid lest they should say not He but another body rose a Tomb not belonging to himself but to another man because he neither died nor was buried for himself but for us men and for our salvation St. Cyril helps us further to know that the Monuments of the Kings of Juda and Israel were raised a little above the ground but the Tombs of all others of that Nation who were under the Princely rank were hewn out seven cubits under ground Eusebius very directly says of his Tomb it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Cave but none so pat as the Prophet Jeremy Lam. v. 53. They have cut off my life in the dungeon and cast a stone upon me An hollow descension into a low place is called a Dungeon And as we cover a Wells mouth with planks of wood or with lead so in sundry places of Scripture it appears that they rolled great stones upon the mouth of their Caves And surely Joseph of Arimathaea barr'd this Sepulchre with a stronger stone than ordinary that our Lords body might not be abused by the malice of his Enemies
Howsoever it was charm'd by Gods protection that man should not meddle with it a celestial Minister turn'd it aside from the mouth of the Pit A Cherubin in the Old Testament shut up Paradice and stopt the way of joy against us An Angel in the New Testament opens the Graves of sorrow He came and rolled back the stone from the door 'T is certain that the Scripture gives no reason why the Angel did it but this was one end to declare the truth of the Resurrection for after the Stone was cast aside says he Come see the place where He was laid He is not here It is not from the power of man but from Angelical help from Divine grace that we are led into the knowledg of the mysterie of the Resurrection The Law of Moses says one was written in Tables of stone and therefore was likened unto a Stone a Milstone which if Christ did not bear off the weight would grind us to powder Now the comfort of Redemption in Christ his Passion Resurrection Ascention the Coming of the Holy Ghost are mystically delivered in the Old Testament but are covered over darkly with the Letter of the Law as with a Stone but after the resurrection from the dead was well believed the Stone was rolled away I assure you great knowledg of Divine things ensued never before that time was the substance of faith so perfectly apprehended Beatus lapis qui non minùs corda aperit quà m sepulchrum says that Father whom I have often cited upon this Text. Happie stones at whose opening and rolling away not only the Sepulchre was unclosed but our hearts were opened to believe Beloved if there be one among you that is dull to conceive and slow to believe it is a sign that the Stone is not yet rolled away to him all is shut up to that poor Soul and he sees nothing such a mans Key must be continual prayer it behoves him to cry out earnestly Lord take away this stony heart and give me an heart of flesh Lord shut not up thy loving kindness in displeasure send down thy Holy Spirit to remove away all carnal impediments open mine eyes that I may look into thy Sepulchre and believe thy Resurrection Now the Scriptures assigning no cause for the rolling away of the Stone but to manifest that he was risen not that he might rise in his body when the mouth of the Cave was open and further as Gregory Nyssen urgeth the Angel doth not preach that he rose even now since He came down from Heaven but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 surrexit he hath risen he hath departed out of the Grave as if he spake of a thing that was past before his coming from whence you may observe what a perplexful question ariseth to be handled how the Body of Christ being now made alive again came out of the Sepulchre I do not find the several opinions collected together by any man some may escape me but as many as I have noted I will rehearse them all One opinion among the Antient Fathers and the most general if they be well understood is thus That He came forth by his own mighty power after what sort we cannot tell for God would not trouble us with those strange effefts which we are not able to apprehend So one of our late Writers after much ado concludes Divino nutu viam sibi aperuit mirando nobis inexplicabili modo he made way to come forth as he would himself in a miraculous and unspeakable manner These are Paraeus words And I put Calvin in this rank who goes no further but Christum ante surrexisse quà m ab Angelo sepulchrum aperiretur Christ rose before the Sepulcher was unbarred by the Angel but he determined not what way and it was a becoming modesty in him I could name a multitude more but divers have borrowed the words of Musculus Christ did use the external ministry of Angels to roll away the Stone for us not for himself He that rose to life though death were upon his Body could come forth into the Garden though the Stone were upon the Sepulchre But after what sort he came forth all these put their finger upon their mouth and say nothing To determine after what manner great mysteries are brought to pass when the Word of God is silent hath done more hurt to the Christian Church by procuring endless Controversies than all the Persecutions that ever were raised I concur therefore in mine own judgment with this first rank of Divines yet you shall hear the second That he issued out the Stone remaining on the mouth of the Grave creaturae mutatione non sui corporis by an alteration caused in the Stone not in the Body of Christ So Justin Martyr he came out by the Stone even as he made the Seas fit for his own feet and for Peters to tread upon No mutation can be said to be in Christs Body for the Father says it was corpus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a solid Elementary Body certainly Peters body also was heavy and earthy for after a little while he began to sink yet he at first walkt upon the Seas because Christ stiffned the waies to support him and Peter like a solid Pavement So the Stone might be attenuated and made thin as easie as air to transmit a body St. Austin reports of a Ring falln from a womans Girdle yet the Ring remaining and the Girlde whole and unbroken Admit it were true yet the Ring passed not through the substance of the Girdle but the one substance passed by while in a moment by Gods power the other gave place unto it So the place through which Christs Body passed admit no rarefaction of the Stone might be whole and shut by and by and streight after he passed by it not in the instant of his passing that 's contrary to the nature of a true body Some in credulous Jew when Malchus ear was cut off and presently on again might think the Sword had never gone between his ear and his head yet we are sure it did In such a starting while which could not be perceiv'd might the Stone yield to Christs Body and come together again or if not made thin parted of a sudden to let him pass by and in an instant come close together again Thirdly some antient Writers and divers moderns hold probably that Christ made his egress repagulorum cessione non penetrationum dimensione not as if one body had penetrated another but the Stone in the trembling of the earthquake started off from the mouth of the Cave and clos'd again till the Angel rolled it quite away This is made the more credible from Acts 5.23 the Apostles were shut up in the common Prison the Angel brings them forth the Officers being question'd confess The Prison truly found we shut with all safety the Keepers standing without before the doors but when we had opened it we found no
not the same For howsoever they took upon them this glorious appearance yet it was nothing to them they are glorious spirits we shall be glorified both in body and in spirit they shall possess the double in their Land Everlasting joy shall be with them Isa lxi 7. Duplicia possidebunt this is their double portion their soul shall be filled with the vision of God and their body shall be bright like this Angels Garment yea fairer than earthly resemblance can decipher And so much for Gods Watchman upon the first verse and for those occurrent meditations which fell out upon it His countenance c. Against these the next verse opposeth Pilates Watchmen Watchmen indeed out of suspicions and infidelity not out of devotion and reverence Souldiers they were and no worse than of a Roman Garison but Souldiers in a piece of Arras would have serv'd as well Are these Romani rerum Domini Roman spirits whose brave resolution is a Proverb throughout all the world miserable Keepers that were set to daunt others and yet themselves shake for fear and became as dead men The Doctrin of this point will make up several Propositions to be considered First That the stoutest of wicked men have their great fears for their own heart tells them that there is one against them against whom it is impossible to stand The Philistins are mistrustful Who is able to withstand these mighty Gods The Aramites are quell'd if they do but think they hear a noise All the Money-changers of the Temple run away from a little scourge if Christ take it into his hand The High Priests Servants arm'd with swords and staves fall flat to the ground if He say no more unto them but whom seek ye I am He. Non potest stare quem conscientia destituit quem impellit reatus He that hath plummets of sin upon his conscience must sink to the ground it is impossible his legs should bear him And do not think this doctrine is less to be credited because there appears most resolute courage in many blasphemous Ruffians that are scarce half Christians that neither fear roaring Seas nor Earthquakes as the barbarous Celts were wont to say of themselvs for howsoever they are prodigal of their bloud and had rather die than seem to quail yet if you could see into their brest it must be that you should find a natural damp there because the Soul will be inquisitive what shall betide it hereafter and it is impossible it should speak comfort unto it self A Wolf is a most adventurous Beast yet he cannot run a furlong to seek his prey but he looks about to watch who follows him because he knows he is hated so the stoutest of the ungodly is bridled by the terror of an evil conscience in all his pride and glory I confess that some portion of fear is a passion incident to the righteous and best disposed Many things may intimidate a good man or woman for want of instruction what the Divine assistance can bring to pass out of a soft complexion out of a remorse for sin more acute in some than in others and out of too much love to themselves and those things upon earth which are most dear unto their love for such imperfections are in the best but it is not such a confus'd malignant fear as the enemies of Christ feel which makes Judas burst in twain which makes Arius fall in pieces which makes Cain surmise every one that sees him will kill him which makes Tyrants they dare not trust their nearest Servants nor their dearest Children which makes the Keepers of the Sepulcher shake for fear and become as dead men Secondly attend how terror falls upon them that think to terrifie Christs Saints they that were set to afright the Disciples are more afrighted themselves 'T is true that the zealous women which came with Odors and sweet Spices to the Sepulcher were much amazed yet the Angel spake mild and gentle words unto them and bid them be not afraid but the Souldiers were overwhelmed with perturbation and never comforted Let Pilate set another Guard upon his Guard for these are daunted upon whom both He and the Jews relied to maintain their fact which they had done against God and Man But the terrible men are requited with terror Pharaoh did never threaten Moses so sharply but before he saw him again he was in a worse perplexity than Moses for some grievous plague that was faln upon him David fled from Saul and yet Saul was more dejected in his heart than David Eusebius says upon the resolution of the Martyrs that their Persecutors were more afraid to see them suffer their torments than they were to endure it And some Heathen Historians testifie to this that Julian the Emperor had a device to trouble the Christian Church above measure by allowing and furthering the Jews to build up the Temple at Jerusalem again but the Workmen and their Taskmasters were let from proceeding by thunder and eruptions of fire and many such impediments which came from Heaven Satan was sent to buffet Paul but Paul did buffet Satan by mortiâ—ying his body by praying to the Lord that the rebellion of concupiscence might be taken from him The poor man in the Gospel possessed with Devils who fomed and gnasht with his teeth and was even torn with violence this man was not so much tormented as the Devils were to be cast forth and sent headlong to the Sea Of all stories methinks those are the pleasantest to read to see a malicious man stewed in his own sawce burnt in the same fire which he kindled for his neighbour An invading Enemy driven back with a mighty overthrow a litigious person cast in Law to his undoing A merciless man in the Gospel changing places with him whom he cast in prison Matth. xviii Hamans plot against Mordecai executed upon himself the Lions that were kept hungry to eat up Daniel devouring those that accused him the Souldiers set to scare all the well-willers of Christ that came to the Sepulcher and themselves scared out of their wits that their heart was dead within them The Dogs are sometimes gor'd and pauncht by the Beast which they hunted and they that meant destruction to the Saints are first destroyed O Lord let the malice of them that are ill affected to Christ and his Flock be ever so requiâ—ed Thirdly let it be attended that the fear of death is exceedingly in the hearts of them that do not believe in the Resurrection Alas they that set all their stake upon this life and are perswaded when this puff of breath is stopt that they shall sleep in an eternal night and never be wakened more can you wonder if they be infinitely agast upon the summons of death The Stag when he is at bay and ready to be pluckt down and torn sheds tears naturally and drops of sorrow trickle down from him because he shall part with his life for ever
and be utterly annihilated So an unbeliever who knows of no better condition that shall befall him than happens to Beasts that is not established in faith that though worms eat this Body in the Grave yet our Soul shall be cloathed with flesh and bone and enjoy an everlasting union in the highest places this man looks upon death as the extremity of all evils in which there is nothing but irreparable loss a thing that can admit of no consolation Resurrection is the edg of all valour and fortitude there can be no courage without it In assurance of it there is no sting there is no terror in our dissolution Says St. Paul Why stand we in jeopardy every hour why have I fought with beasts at Ephesus if the dead rise not as who should say there 's the encouragement of all that endure for the name of Christ Now these Souldiers whom the Jews obtein'd of Pilate to watch the Sepulcher were so far from apprehending this comfort that this Tabernacle of ours when we lay it down is sequesterd for a time till God restore it again out of the dust that they kept that place on purpose that there might be no resurrection According to their great demerits therefore those that were the most envious adversaries of life did shake for fear and became as dead men Fourthly the Souldiers feared exceedingly because they had been aiders to the malice of the Jews to crucifie Christ now when they saw the Sepulcher open the stone rolled away the Angel sitting upon it and by these signs the Resurrection declared that He whom they had put to death most barbarously was greater than death and Lord of the Angels their guiltiness must needs shake them to pieces and extreme horror stare them in the face When St. Peter came to that verse of his Sermon Act. ii 36. God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ The Jews that heard this they were pricked in their hearts and cried out Men brethren what shall we do St. Chrysostom says that many of those who had cried out in Pilate's Judgment-Hall Crucifie him crucifie him were at the Sermon so perhaps those Souldiers that had cast lots upon his Vesture and he that thrust the Spear into his side was at the Sepulcher The greater would be their oppressure of fear when they had been actors in the Tragedy They shall look upon me whom they have pierced Zach. xii 10. a most melancholy object to his Persecutors Eusebius says that the Jews did recall to mind that innocent bloud of Christ which they had shed upon the time that their City was besieged by Titus and that the thought thereof did so enfeeble their hands that they could not fight Although their own Historian Josephus will not impute the calamity of the City to that fault but confesseth sin did reign in Jerusalem at that time so copiously and prodigiously as the like was never in Sodom and Gomorrah but certainly the suspicion of that sin hath debased the courage and broke the heart of all the Nation of the Jews to this day St. Paul writing to the Hebrews bids them cast aside 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. xii 1. the weight of their sin and I do not remember that he useth the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a weighty ponderous sin to any other but to them I know we ought all to be sorry and lament that Christ was crucified for our sakes for those manifold sins that we have perpetrated and solum peccatum homicida est therefore we must be crucified with Christ in mortification and be buried with him in Baptism but the personal procurers of his death were the capital transgressors their sin was died in his bloud as it were in scarlet The Son of man must die and be betrayed but wo unto that man that doth betray him and crucifie him Beware therefore that we do not crucifie to our selves the Son of God a fresh the exposition is in the words following that we do not put him to an open shame Heb. vi 6. by heinous scandalous sins to cause Christs name to be blasphemed that is to put Christ to an ignominy and as it were to crucifie him again Such crimes will leave a sting behind them that will never cease to wound your conscience especially at the hour of death The Gentiles at first could not endure the Sign of the Cross it called their sins to remembrance but how will it tear your heart within you when you call to mind that the ignominy of Christ crucified is in your Soul The Souldiers saw what abomination they had committed when an Angel beautified Christs Sepulcher with his presence and for fear of him c. Fifthly the Souldiers could not keep Christs body in the Sepulcher as they were appointed by Pilat and the High-Priests therefore they feared those that had commanded them the task an evil Instrument is ever afraid of those that do imploy him The Pharisees were angry with their Servants and Officers that they did not bring Christ unto them and lay hands upon Him Joh. vii 43. yet it was not in them to do it no man could lay hands on him then for his hour was not yet come So the Watchmen knew what offence would be taken that Christs body was taken out of the Sepulcher yet they could not stop it No servitude in the world so heavy so dangerous so full of fear as to observe a wilful unreasonable Tyrant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nebuchadonosor put his Chaldaeans and Southsayers to death because they could not tell him the Dream which himself had forgotten Dan. ii 12. It is a just reward of wicked Instruments that they were always suspected always secretly hated by those that practise with them And when I have told you but one story in that kind I could be voluminous you will say Ohe jam satis est it is enough to represent the certain perdition of them that minister to ungodly practises But thus briefly Pope Paul the fifth fell out with the whole State of Venice interdicted all their Dominions began to raise arms against them for imprisoning the Abbot of Nervase whose crimes beside many other foul offences were these three 1. He poisoned his own Brother and wrought the death of a Prior of St. Austins Order and his Servant because they were conscious of it 2. He had long time the carnal knowledg of his own Sister and empoisoned her Maid lest she should betray him 3. He caused an Enemy of his to be killed and after that empoisoned the Murtherer lest he might accuse him This is related by no Protestant Pen but by Friar Paul of Venice of the Order of the Servites Nor do I report it to let you know what kind of offender the Pope protected but to manifest how He brought all those to an untimely end that had either the privacy or their parts to work for his iniquity I do
not pity them that may foresee this and yet will be other mens instruments to facilitate their damnable projects I do not pity these Souldiers that would attend the High Priests service against the Lord and against his Christ and now are weary of their service they shook for fear and became as dead men Lastly to end all the wicked have fair warnings these fears and quiverings are good Tutors and admonitions when the house gives a crack before it falls the Inhabitants may shift for their lives and he that will not mend by terror and minacy let his end be misery A standing water that is never troubled hath no commotion in it must needs corrupt so an even fortune that is not acquainted with frowns and afrightments is most incommodious for a Christian but he that will make good use of fear though he shake and cannot stand he shall fall into the arms of mercy But these impious Watchmen were no longer mortified than the Angel lookt upon them There was no serious affection of sorrow in them Sicut mente alienati expavescunt ad momentum simul tamen obliviscuntur se timuisse As a phrentique is awed for a while with his Keeper but flies out into wild fits as soon as he turns his back so this Roman Garrison who may represent the whole condition of Reprobates a little terrified but never amended they had a qualm of guiltiness came over them but they did not search into the true cause and original and as soon as ever they had communicated with the High-Priests and Elders their impudence was encouraged their hands bribed and their tongues bought at a price to publish abroad the most wrongful the most sinful the most senseless forgery that ever was invented therefore since they were no better for that terror which a good Angel struck into them it is to be much presum'd that the Lord did turn them over to evil Angels to be tormented for ever Dearly beloved that which stands before us this day is not an Angel of the ordinary Hierarchy but the Angel of the Covenant Christ our Lord in the Sacrament of his blessed Body not cloathed gorgeously but in the poor Elements of Bread and Wine And let us come to these with joy and not with terror not as dead men unless it be unto sin and living unto God and yet bring store of fear and reverence with you The Greek Fathers call this Table 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mysteries of dreadfulness lest we should not receive them in a clean vessel and with all due preparation O I beseech you remember you come to receive Christ who is risen and sitteth at the right hand of God wherefore come out of the Grave of your sins from your long accustomed crimes wherein you have been buried not four days with Lazarus but many years and then we shall encompass Christ in his glory with Troops of Angels for evermore AMEN THE SEVENTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MARK xvi 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the Week he appeared first to Mary Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven Devils ALL that concerns this most Christian Festival may be referred to two words Christus resurrexit apparuit that Christ rose from the dead and that he appeared after he was risen That he rose from the dead on this day there were good tokens of it the earth trembled the Stone was rolled away the Monument was opened the Souldiers that kept watch upon the place were dismayed and fled away the body was not to be found in the Sepulcher and Angels of light heavenly Spirits that would consent to no fraud or sin ministred in the Grave where the body had lain Who were the Witnesses that could testifie to all this that it was very true A Catalogue of people some of one condition some of another The whole Corps du Guard of the Souldiers though they were corrupted to tell a lie the Women that brought sweet Odours and Spices to embalm him and lastly two of his own Disciples Peter and John who saw what God had done and returned from the Monument with some little faith but with great extasies of wonder and joy indeed with a concurrence of all these passions that no man can well tell what to call it See my Beloved here was the grand Article of Faith come now to the birth yet all this that was passed was not able to bring it forth It put Christ therefore I will not say to the trouble but to the exercise of five several Apparitions upon this day 1. He was seen of Mary Magdalen 2. Of Peter although we meet not with the manner how Peter saw him but the Apostle Paul says he was seen of Cephas then of the Twelve it was his happiness by himself alone to behold him alive again upon this day Luk. xxiv 34. The Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared unto Simon 3. He manifested himself to the cluster of those Women that came to anoint his body 4. He discovered himself to those two that were going to Emmaus 5. He came in the presence of all the Disciples at Evening when the doors were shut These were the Cinque Ports I may say of his sweet manifestation at this season And it falls out very well to my purpose that my Text says the first that saw him after his victory over death was Mary Magdalen For this will make even with Eve upon whose disobedience I have preach'd so often I have shewed unto you divers times how by a Woman came the first vengeance of death now I shall shew you if God please how by a woman came the first notice of the Resurrection from the dead and both hapned in a Garden In a Garden life was forfeited unto death And in a Garden life was recovered from death But death was threatned to Eve towards the darkness of the Evening he that conquered death made shew of his victory openly to this holy Woman early in the Morning And this is Davids Song accomplished Heaviness may endure for a night but joy cometh in the Morning The Text offers much to be spoken of I cannot reach at all but I will select so much only as will serve for the continuance of an hour First here are circumstances of time which shew a coherence between the Resurrection and Apparition of our Lord. The Apparition as well as the Resurrection was upon the same day On the first day of the Week and much about the same time of the day very early in the Morning Secondly The Apparition it self was made to Mary Magdalen who is described that she had the first fruits of Christs love for the present he appeared first c. And 2. she that was the object of his great mercy for the time past for it was she out of whom Christ had cast seven devils Unto these particulars are required your Attentiveness and my labour To begin then These great marvels hapned on
the first day of the Week We are not those that esteem one day more than another as it is the mere flux of time but we are those that must remember how God hath glorified himself in one day more than another and never so much on any as on this day The first day of the Week As God the Father upon the first day did begin to make this visible World of Creatures so Christ rose the same day from the dead to shew the beginning of a new Age. Resurrectio est alterius mundi spiritualis creatio says Justin Martyr The Resurrection is well called a Creation of a new spiritual world On the first day of the Week God said Let there be light and he divided between the light and the darkness Verily in the same sort upon the same day God brought the light of the world out of the darkness of the Grave and the life says St. John was the light of men Now this infinite work to tread death under feet and to bring mankind out of corruption into the state of immortality being more eximious than to make Adam in a possibility to die and perish therefore all Christian Churches have desisted to meet together at holy exercises upon the Sabbath of the Jews and the first day of the Week hath been solemnly appointed from the Apostles even to this Age to sanctifie the name of the Lord in publick Congregations It is but a fretful question which is too much agitated now adays since the first day of the Week is designed to be sanctified to the praise of God from the Resurrection of our Saviour what time we may borrow for the use of domestical affairs and harmless recreations He that is perswaded in his conscience no part of the day must be spared from Gods Service let him so do according to the resolution of his conscience no man can be offended that he is earnest for his own part to keep the whole day unto the Lord. Again he that is perswaded that the Lord must have his due service on that day but that he is not tied to a strict Sabbatical servitude surely his knowledge is good and he may use his liberty but without scandal to his brother To the first I say be a zealous Christian in keeping the Lords day but be not a Jew in opinion To the other I say give thanks to God for the freedom to which he hath called you and that he hath eased your shoulders from the servil burden of the Jewish Sabbath but be not a Libertine in practise And this is the sum of that which I will say to the first Point that this marvellous work was done upon the first day of the Week Now the Holy Ghost hath not only satisfied us with the designation of the day but because the more particularity the more certainty therefore the Spirit hath condescended to name almost the hour of the day so that I am sure we may guess near upon the time for it was early on the first day of the Week which denotes two things that the Lord made haste to rise from the dead to comfort the Disciples and that Mary Magdalen made haste to comfort herself with coming to the Sepulcher Christ started up suddenly out of sleep like Samson before the powers of hell those Philistines were aware of him To this it may be David alluded in Exurgam diluculò Awake my glory awake Lute and Harp I my self will awake right early Nescit tarda molimina spiritus sancti gratia Be not you slow in paying your debts to God God is ever before-hand in fulfilling his promises to you The words in the Second Psalm which are applied Heb. i. to our Saviours eternal Generation are referred by the same Apostle Acts xiii 33. to his Resurrection Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee I cannot pass it over that the Vulgar Latine reads it Ante luciferum genui te Before the Morning star have I begotten thee Very fitly to this Doctrine which I teach that Christ rose early this day before the Morning Star appeared Now that one Scripture may not seem to fall foul upon another these two must be reconciled how he that rose so early ante luciferum how he can be said to be three days like Jonas in the belly of the Grave The answer is you must measure these three days by a Synechdoche He was buried towards Evening upon the Jews day of preparation and so lay interred some part of Afternoon and all that night Upon the Jews Sabbath he rested in the Sepulcher all day and all night Upon the first day of the Week he continued in the state of death some hours of the Morning and very early he came forth an eternal Victor he fulfilled the Scriptures therefore and withal he made haste to fulfil his Promise upon the third day Euthymius expresseth it more elegantly than I can Quòd citiùs quà m sit constitutum efficitur potentiae est quòd tardiùs imbecilitatis Christus non solùm promissum explevit sed etiam gratiam velocitatis addidit To be tardier than our promise is a sign of some let and infirmity to be before hand with a promise is a sign of power and efficacy The promise of the Son of God was that in three days he would build up the Temple of his body again he did so and more than so soon after the third day was begun Behold the performance of his word and the sudden dispatch of his favour joyn'd unto it So we have seen both his truth in the Promise and his love in the speediness of the act doing above his promise Moreover I would have it be mark'd that as he rose early so he was sought early by Mary Magdalen The desire of Christ held her eyes waking and I believe she had took but small rest since Christ was crucified as soon as it was possible to have access to his Monument she came unto it I know not whether you are to learn it but it was not the usual manner of the Jews to bury their dead within the Walls of their Cities to a Garden you know the Corps of our Saviour was carried into the Suburbs of Jerusalem therefore she was compelled to attend till the Gates of the City were opened and passage being made she came before the break of day to the Sepulcher And believe it she sped much the better that she was such an early visitor do not imagine but the eye of the Lord unto this day is upon those that make haste to come unto the threshold of his sacred House and they are greatly deceived that think they shall find God as soon if they come late to Church as if they come early I pray you tell me is there any part of the Service so mean and unuseful that you can be content to spare it Or do you think that God is asleep and by that time the Congregation hath rouzed him up then
all Saints must be glad at those news all hail to this day for all the Feasts and Sundays of the year borrow their festivity from Easterday This is the day which the Lord hath made c. It is an easie thing to make us break out into carnal and voluptuous joy but it is not easie to make us apprehend spiritual joy Christ spake the good word unto the women all hail 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rejoyce There is somewhat in original sin which makes us great misdeemers it is not one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that will set us right though Christ himself pronounced it there were some signs which betrayed these parties that they were sore afrighted they said nothing for ought appears and therefore it is likely they were strucken dumb with the astonishment their countenance I suppose changed and every joynt of them shaked when they held him by the feet and therefore the gracious Lord adds be not afraid We may put it at large thus I come as a friend I have saluted you with peace and joy therefore be not afraid of me as if I were an enemy So Josephs Brethren being mistrustful of some great evil were enheartned by Josephs Steward Peace be unto you fear not Gen. xliii 23. The comfort of the salutation was reinforced by this consolation that there was no cause to fear When reason hath repulsed the fallacies of our passions by good arguments fear will diminish by little and little But here 's a case wherein reason could afford no succour for what could reason conceive touching the resurrection of the dead It is a dreadful thing to mans wit let it be never so dispassionated to see one come alive out of the Grave for it is a most natural thing for a man to tremble when he sees an accident far above nature therefore the exhortation must proceed from Christ and supernatural grace in such an instance as this Fear not The Angels said as much unto them before in the same syllables he is risen and be not afraid Comfortable speeches indeed yet they did not take it required a greater Doctor than they to inculcate that Lesson Christ preacheth it and it took effect they did remit of their fear for the Angels spake unto the ear and Christ unto the heart And when the conscience is enlightned by grace it cannot choose but see that the greatest avoider of fear is to know that Christ is risen from the dead Death is called the King of terrors by Job as being the strongest of earthly fears and yet this is quite assuaged in them that have an assured hope of joyful resurrection Wy boastest thou thy self thou Tyrant that thou canst kill the body death is not extinction but an intermission of life My bones shall be covered again when worms have eat my flesh and with mine eyes I shall see my Saviour It is the Whetstone of fortitude in battel and in all dangers scelus est rediturae parcere vitae who but a base mind will dastardly preserve that life which shall return again An application of the Holy Spirit will make a good Christian as stout as a Lion setting the most valiant object of the Resurrection before him Though the Pharisees would hate them to death that should testifie how Christ was raised in power though the Scouts of the High Priest were abroad to note them in the black book that travell'd about that errand though the Souldiers were grim and cruel and would spare none that should refute their falsehood that the Disciples had taken away the Body while they slept yet these weak women dare do any thing to confront the evil world since Christ had said unto them be not afraid After this they have a Commission to dispatch and depart Go tell my Brethren they must not stay and dispute it Lord whither should we go thou hast the words of eternal life send us not away from thee for in thy presence there is the fulness of joy If the Blessed Virgin was not happy that her paps gave him suck but that she heard the word of God and kept it then it was no happiness to see Christ or to touch his feet but to do his will and obey it It was not a time to feed still upon this gladness and to stay with him but go and impart it There was a season when Mary Magdalen was commended for sitting still at his feet and choosing the better part but now blessed are the feet that stir and walk upon this errand to bring glad tidings of salvation As the Samaritan Woman did well not to stay with Christ but it was better to go into the City and to tell her kindred that she had found the Messias Beside their Commission was a special dignity to go from him and to bring a Message to the Disciples neither did they pretext as Moses did we are ignorant women slow of speech let Aaron rather be sent unfit for the preaching of these mysteries Christ knew what sufficiency and aptitude was in them better than themselves and therefore they must undertake to go to the chief Princes of the Church to them that succeeded Aaron in his Bishoprick The Apostles lurkt at home for fear so that Christ was fain to find out new Apostles to preach him these Daughters of Jerusalem And as their Commission had dignity in it so it was very pleasing and full of sweet address to those that sat disconsolate Go tell my Brethren they that run away from him and forsook him did not look it may be for so sweet a Title No doubt their hearts did catch at it as soon as ever they heard it like those that came from the King of Syria thy Brother Benhadad The Angels did not give them this style but plainly thus Go tell his Disciples and it was well considering their fault that they did not lose the name of Disciples but Christ exceeds the Angels in loving kindness and is not ashamed to call them Brethren Hebr. ii 11. But the more he advanceth his Servants in title the more ought they to depress themselves the more he calls us Brethren the more let us cast our selves down before him as Servants to the Mighty Lord. This also they learnt into the advantage that now Christ was risen in immortality he had not put on another body or chang'd his nature he is still as we are in his fleshly substance and therefore calls his Disciples Brethren And this we are taught likewise that he doth acknowledg them for his Brethren after he appeared in glory even as Joseph claimed kindred of his Brethren in the top of his honour Haughty men will forget their old acquaintance when they rise unto promotion but in true morality amicitia non dissolvitur per fortunae accessionem a true friend will persist a friend though he ascend to a noble accession of fortune Christ being made the greatest that ever was upon earth calls these Fishermen his
Brethren Lastly as their Commission had dignity and sweetness in it so they were sent with profitable tydings to tell the Disciples they must go into Galilee and there they should see the Lord. What ailed them I may say that they were not already gone into Galilee for Christ had told them Mat. xxvi 22. When I am risen again I will go before you into Galilee Nay albeit the Women repeated this unto them they did not stir What though they would not go with him to his Cross would not they remove into Galilee when they were warned by Christ and now readmonished by the Women What might it be that hindred them shall I tell you what I think they had forgotten what Christ said and the tydings of the women made them keep closer to that place where they were Can it be that these women saw him in Jerusalem then surely say they the Lord will appear unto us in this City though we do not travel into Galilee But why did the Lord appoint the great intercourse between him and his Disciples in Galilee First it was remote from Jerusalem where much danger was there he might discourse with his Disciples with more privacy and security Secondly the Apostles were all Galileans and for their sakes he did this honour to their Country Thirdly to eject Satan out of his possession for it was a place of much sin called a place of darkness and the land of the shadow of death Isa ix 2. Fourthly there were many Disciples in Galilee and Christ had intended a famous meeting to appear to them all at once as some say on Mount Thabor where he was transfigur'd and that here it was where he was seen of more than five hundred Brethren at once Be it as it would be he promiseth they should see him there and he was better than his promise for upon this day at Even they saw him at Jerusalem Here is nothing that savours of any old grudg or displeasure no repealing of the former promise because they had forsaken him in the Garden but a confirmation of all loving kindness passed and an exceeding favour superadded that their souls might not be tortur'd with that long procrastination not to see him till they went into Galilee he prevented the time and appear'd to them in their own Chamber before they slept To this Christ who is faithful in promises and gracious in loving kindness be all glory AMEN THE NINTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MAT. xxviii 13. Say ye his Disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept IN the Parable where the King made a Marriage for his Son and I may truly apply it this day was the glorious Nuptial of the Son of God but in that Parable the Servants went out for Guests into the high ways and gathered together all as many as they found good and bad So the Evangelists have filled up the story of our Saviours Resurrection with all kind of Circumstances of Saints and Reprobates truth and fictions good and bad It is agreed by them who have exactly wrote an harmony of the Gospels that Christ made five Apparitions and no fewer all of them upon this triumphant day after he was risen from the dead to the devoutest of all others men and women that loved the Lord. The first to Mary Magdalen The second to the other Women that were going from the Sepulchre to tell the Disciples what the Angels had said unto them The third to Peter Luc. xxiv 34. The Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon 1 Cor. xv 5. Seen of Cephas then of the Twelve The fourth to Cleophas and the other Disciple toward the setting of the Sun to whom he was known in the breaking of bread The fifth to the Disciples late that night Whereas they had received a Message to go into Galilee and there they should see the Lord yet out of fear and incredulity they moved not out of doors Therefore on the same day at Evening being the first day of the Week when the doors were shut where the Disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst of them and said Peace be unto you And howsoever some of those portions of Scripture are read for the Gospel to morrow some for next Sunday yet all those five Apparitions hapned upon this one day He appeared so often to the best of those that loved him but the relation of his Resurrection was made also on this day to the worst of those that hated him The Angels spake it to the Women in the hearing of the Souldiers that he was risen to life the news went from bad to worse the Souldiers tell the High Priests and Elders what they had heard and seen the High Priests again sophisticate the news and tell them fraudulently to Pilate for the Souldiers safety then Pilate and the High Priests agreeing together fill the whole Nation of the Jews by their cunning with incredulity Look not therefore to hear me speak at this time of those good Saints to whom the mystery of Christs Resurrection was the savour of life unto life but of those wicked Infidels who by their own impiety made it unto themselves the savour of death unto death There is not one good person within the compass of the story whereof my Text is a part It is Manipulus zizaniorum If ever according to the Parable God sent his Angel to gather the worst Tares in one bundle by themselves here they are The High Priests prevaricating with God and his Angels the Souldiers corrupted Pilate the Governour misperswaded the people wholly seduced bad is the best Yet St. Matthew and no other Evangelist hath interserted this piece of treachery among the other sweet Narrations of this most happy day And for these causes if St. Chrysostome hit it right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truth will have the better audience when it passeth through the mouths of most contrary Authors say not that his Disciples and such Women as had Christ in admiration spread these things abroad for the malignant Souldiers speak the same 2. That we may see that very hour when God did first smite the Jews with that vertiginous spirit to hearken to Cabalistical Legends to the doating dreams of the Rabbines as they do at this day that is in St. Pauls Phrase to profane and old Wives Fables For indeed this Text is a mere Romancy as arrant a Jewish Fable as ever was told A Conspiracy so full of rotten Fictions that nothing is true in it all but that it is a Conspiracy and that it is a Fiction 1. Then we must bolt out the Confederates Gebal and Ammon joyn together the High Priests the Elders and the Souldiers 2. The way of Confederacy is by putting a forged Tale in the Souldiers mouths they must avouch any thing that the Priests suborn Ye shall say 3. The Plot is collaterally against the Disciples for being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the twelve stones which Joshuah set up on the banks of Jordan are there to this day after Dagon fell on the Threshold the Priests of Baal tread not on the Threshold to this day so this figment was commonly reported among the Jews long after that is unto this day See what Prophets were their Instructors after they had set their heart to resist the truth Testimonium Martyrum nolunt audire ut vivant testimonium dormientium receperunt ut pereant They stop their ears at the Doctrine of the holy Martyrs that invite them to eternal life and receive the witness of Souldiers that belie themselves saying they slept and did not and belie Christ and his victory over the Grave saying that such men as I think they knew not His Disciples came and stole him away by night Attende potiùs eum qui emit te non eum qui mendacium emit tibi Listen unto Christ and learn of him who hath bought thee with a price with the price of his own bloud to inherit eternal life listen not to them that gave a price of money to buy a lie whereby thou shalt be swallowed up of eternal death And beware to be either active or passive in false subornations either the giver or the taker Beware of lying lips and a deceitful tongue all these are most odious for their sakes that would have undermined the credit of our Saviours Resurrection Wherefore putting away all lying speak every man truth with his neighbour for we are members one of another Buy the truth and sell it not Prov. xxiii 23. Now the Jews have rigg'd their Witnesses and set them forth so well greazed in the hand that they dare say any thing We are come in the third place to that which they must say First They must lop at the branches and strike at the root afterward the Disciples must be first drawn into danger that they are breakers open of graves and robbers of the dead his Disciples came by night Poor souls they thought they had taken the safest way that the wit of man could invent to escape both envy and danger they were shut up stirr'd not abroad medled with nothing but let a man live as private as he can as retired as he can if malice mean him an ill turn it shall fall upon him Christ was private enough in Mount Olivet yet there he was attached And it is an argument unto us that many times they fared better through Gods providence who adventured themselves abroad in ill times and contested for the name of Christ rather than they that out of humane providence would hide themselves and their gifts for fear like a Candle under a Bushel But whether in a private or in a publick life the Disciple is not better than his Master If Christs Doctrine and Miracles were so ill entertained by the Pharisees that they hated him to the death yea and beyond death his Ministers shall feel their anger before the storm be ended the very name of a Disciple was grown a taunt and reproach The Synagogue thought it had called the blind man all to nought when they said of him in their passion Thou art his Disciple Joh. ix This is an infallible character of a base and ignoble spleen to grudge at all those that depend upon such as they persecute to despite the poor Disciples for Christs sake As Zedekiah commanded not only Jeremiah the Prophet to be laid up in Prison but Baruch his Scribe to be apprehended Jer. xxxvi 26. And the Jews when they could not tear Paul in pieces nor come at him they beat Sosthenes his Companion whom he had converted to the faith Act. xviii The old devillish State rule was leave no whelps living of the brood of a Lion so the Pharisees would destroy all those whom Christ had gathered about him if these were made away they thought there was not a tongue left that would wag to offend them with this truth that Christ was risen from the dead His Disciples came by night did they will you stand to it then call the Disciples and the Souldiers face to face and examine them before Pilate reus ore proprio respondere debet it is the Law of Nations and Nature that the accused in all Courts of the world must speak for themselves against their accusers this is most indifferent justice it cannot be denied to believe a tale against a man without suffering him to say what he can for his innocency is barbarous and inhumane proceeding He that came to the Marriage Chamber not having on a Wedding Garment was not cast forth till he became speechless and could not answer But the Disciples have no shadow of law or trial permitted unto them but are impleaded and condemned behind their backs his Disciples came by night Since they were not permitted to say ought to clear themselves I will anticipate a little of the last point and say one thing for them how improbable this defamation was with little partiality to their person They that ran away in the Garden from their Master when he was alive because a few Bandogs of the High Priests had him in their teeth how durst they adventure against an whole Cohort of Souldiers to come near his Sepulcher when he was dead though one of them drew a sword and smote a Servant of the High Priests it was before Christ was griped in their clutches but since they saw him dead nil iste nec ausus nec potuit their hearts fainted they shut themselves close and durst not be known where they were are these likely to rescue their Masters Body from a Roman Garrison Loquere verisimilia speak likelihoods though they be falsehoods Good wits says one love to make discoveries of treasons where there are none it makes their own perspicacy and discerning admired but they do it upon seeming and strong conjectures but here is no scent in this tale to follow it to any probability The truth is a knavish wit might have found out many more colourable evasions but with this fiction if it took the High Priests set forth themselves not only for wise men but to have Prophesie and Divination in their spirit for in the former chapter verse 64. they request Pilate that he would command the Sepulcher should be made sure lest his Disciples come by night and steal him away No better excuse therefore to advance their credit to be Divine and Prophetical than to charge the Disciples with the same fact even as they had foretold it a day before Nonne sex totos menses priùs olfecissem says old Demea So these were such cunning men that they had the Disciples plot in the wind before ever it was intended Silly fellows God wot for all this cunning fifty days full had not run on after Christ rose from the dead but St. Peter and his Associates filled all Jerusalem with their Doctrin that Jesus was risen from the dead and that He
whom they had crucified was both Lord and God Where were their wits to foresee this and prevent it and when the fame of it was openly begun how will they mend it lay not night works to the Disciples charge as if they durst not avouch the Resurrection but in darkness dies diei eructat verbum one day certifieth another and one night telleth another that Christ rose by his own virtue and by no fraud of the Disciples to turn the nights of ignorance into manifest light and to bring us from the night of Hell and the Grave into everlasting day But the malignance of the High Priests against the Disciples was a less crime than their envy against the glory of Christ that 's the fourth point of my division and their main drift to discredit the true Doctrin of his Resurrection Say ye his Disciples came by night and stole him away Virtutem magistri faciunt esse discipulorum crimen these are rotten Jewish Fables for Christ rose by his own virtue and was not surreptitiously convey'd away but they make this Divine virtue in Christ to be an hellish vice in the Disciples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 breakers up of Monuments of the dead a most infamous crime in the judgment of all Laws Heathen and Christian accounted among the Enditements of Sacrilege not only because the Corps is laid up in a place but because the body of a Christian is sacrum depositum interred in an assured hope of the Resurrection It was hateful in the very Beasts to root up the Carkasses of the dead Aristotle imputes it to the ravening Hyaena 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to long for the flesh of man and therefore to turn up his Grave to devour him and Pliny adds to it that it is commonly believed ab hôc uno animali sepulchra erui inquisitione mortuorum that no brutish creature but that Hyaena is so brutish to despoil the dead in their Sepulchers but if any men or women did trespass in this kind as more savage than beasts either they were accounted Witches that ransackt for somewhat to make incantations or the most odious kind of Theeves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as stript the dead for their Winding-sheet Pope Sergius found out another way neither of the former but for a worse end if worse might be than Witchcraft for after his Predecessor Pope Formosus was dead he caused his body to be taken up arraign'd it at the Bar cut off an hand or some fingers from it in disgrace and then threw him into Tybris But the Disciples are charged with an Enterprize more scandalous and wicked than all these to steal their Master out of his Monument and then to preach a new Religion to the World that He was risen from the dead The Cretians are alwayes liars says Paul Tit. i. 12. not as they were Cretians as if that were a National vice St. Paul did not revile the whole Nation but because they gave heed to Jewish Fables This one Jewish Fable if they had no more falsehoods is so contagious that it envenoms the whole truth of Christianity For if Christ be not risen from the dead then is all our faith in vain 1 Cor. xv but the vanity was the High Priests vanitas vendens vanitatem in St. Austins words For although they might colour this Allegation that the Disciples undertook this cousenage for the honour of Christ who had foretold that if the Temple of his body were destroyed he would raise it up again in three days yet would they have been imprisoned and scourged yea and died for the testification of the Resurrection if they had been guilty of such false play that this was nothing so but that they had stoln away the body It makes much for the confirmation of our faith that the Souldiers and the Jews complain Christs body was not in the Sepulchre on the third day Hereupon S. Chrysostom framed this Logical dilemma against their infidelity The body of Jesus which was deposed in the Grave in that Grave on which you rolled a great stone and sealed it with a Seal how comes it to be missing either it is risen or stoln away how could it be stoln away when you set it to be watcht with a Band of Souldiers the theft might have been suspected if you had not hired so many to watch and look to it but your own suspicion and policy hath shut you out from that excuse therefore it must be that the third day he rose again from the dead Aut mortuum nobis reddant Judaei cujus custodiam susceperunt aut vivum adorent since the Jews took the care and custody of his body either let them bring him forth dead or worship him as we do that lives for evermore and is the Fountain of Life Gregorius Turonensis tells a story but Baronius says you shall choose whether you will believe it yet he avers he took it out of those Letters which Pilate wrote to Tiberias the Emperor how the Pharisees and Rulers were most offended at Joseph of Arimathaea for begging the Body of Jesus to bury it and committed him to a Prison which had no doors but letting him in at the Seiling and closed it up again but an Angel of God made the walls to open and shut again and brought him out Afterwards the Priests being angry at the Souldiers upon the first report that the Body of Christ was gone the Souldiers contested with them reddite vos Joseph nos reddemus Christum do you tell us what is become of Joseph whom you kept and we will tell you what is become of Christ whom we kept Every figment and device of the High Priests was retorted upon them but the Devil had emboldned them to say any thing or to do any thing against the Resurrection St. Bernard makes an elegant allusion upon it thus Senior frater occisum nobis saginatum vitulum indignatur foris stat omnino non acquiescit intrare as the elder Son in the Parable was offended that the fatted Calf was killed for his younger brother he would not come in a-doors he refused to mix with his fathers Family so the Jews are displeased that Christ is sacrificed for us Gentiles they come not to our Churches they despise our Congregations O says the Father if his Cross doth scandalize you let his Resurrection confirm you you say let him come down from the Cross and we will believe him si non creditis resurgenti utique nec credidissetis descendenti if you will not believe in him now he is risen to life again you would never have believed in him though he had delivered himself from death The rich man said in Hell if one came from the dead his Brethren would believe therefore they of the High Priests Faction made themselves unfit to receive any article of faith because they streined their wits to bely the Resurrection Now in the last place I come to
the name of the whole Congregation to offer up two Lambs of the first year for a Sacrifice of Peace-offerings You will say that 's no strange matter to present a Peace-offering to the Lord true indeed particular persons did it often in their own behalf but Maimonides observes it that the publick Body the Vniversal Church of the Jews never offered any Peace-offering but at the Feast of Pentecost O who will work this work for the Militant Catholique Church that we may say of all the parts of it omnes unanimiter they conclude all for the Orthodox Faith with one accord Some strange salvation must drop out of the clouds we know not how to work this Attonement yet on both sides let every man take heed he make not the rent bigger with more obstinacy and greater separation sweetly did a meek Moses of our own Church write there will come a time when three words uttered with charity and meekness shall receive a far more blessed reward than three thousand Volumes written with disdainful sharpness of wit It may seem a wonderful and unanswerable scruple that many in the former Ages of the Church did so much transcend us in these dayes for gifts of Miracles gifts of Devotion and Learning for Watchings and Fastings for Industry and assiduous diligence for most prosperous success in winning many Souls to the Kingdom of Heaven but the true cause is that their unanimity and pious agreement opened a wide gate to admit sanctification into their breast and our discords exclude it No spirit can give life to Members dismembred unless they be first united and compact together Ezekiel knew not how scattered bones could live but the bones came together bone to his bone and then the breath of the Lord came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet Ezekiel xxxvii 10. The Scribes and Elders of the Jews in few years after our Saviour was crucified were like broken bones scattered and divided like as one breaketh and heweth wood every year by bribery or calumniations the High Priest lost his dignity and a new one was substituted Josephus most impartially hath related that there was no care of Religion no zeal for the Law among them because there was nothing but bandings and factions in their Synagogues Here was no accord and therefore no Holy Spirit came down into their habitations Against the Congregation of the famous first Nicene Council the Fathers that met together it is not to be concealed forgat themselves so far that they put up innumerous Bills of complaints one against another before the Emperor Constantine The Emperor knew this was a most repugnant beginning to the good work they had in hand to enter into the consideration of Christs business with distracted enmities therefore he threw all their bills and brables into the fire and then bad them proceed in the name of Christ and in the grace of his Holy Spirit Their heart is divided now shall they be found faulty says the Prophet Hosea chap. x. 2. A contentious stickler that loves to be the head of a Faction and to disjoynt things out of peace and quietness I wonder whether ever he thinks how the Apostles were composed and prepared when they received the Holy Ghost Fuerunt omnes eâdem animatione simul in unam so St. Austin reads they had one heart and one mind and one inclination to advance the Kingdom of Christ they were all with one accord in one place I enter now upon the last part of all that I may find the way out of my Text and conclude it is the other Preparation for the coming of the Holy Ghost as all the Disciples were knit in vinculo pacis in the bond of peace and concord so they were united together in vinculo spei in the bond of hope by patience and expectation they were ejusdem unanimitatis and ejusdem longanimitatis they kept together for the promise of the Holy Ghost till fifty days were fulfilled God made the Israelites number fifty days after their coming out of Egypt before the Law was delivered ut adventus sui desiderium accenderet to make their hearts burn within them with longing for his coming so he put off the coming of the Holy Ghost for the same space of time to make them think of his promise with eager expectation The Jews called it the Feast of fifty days and the Feast of weeks for whether we reckon by days or weeks or years we must wait the Lords leisure and say expectans expectavi Psal xl 1. I have waited patiently for the Lord and say with our Saviour not my will but thy will be done that is not my time but thy time be fulfilled Where is the faith where is the humility of those rash spirits that will not tarry the fulness of time but have all things at their whistle by and by or quarrel with God as if he had forgot them They received this blessing of wonderful grace that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 long abiders in the 13. verse of the former chapter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or perseverantes ver 14. such as continue till the day of promise was fully come He that believeth let him not make haste says the Prophet Isaiah God will do all things by his own leisure and maturity if he happen to stay stay for him Habak ii 3. for at last he that cometh will come and then he is no flitter his gifts are without repentance and he will abide with us for ever AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE Descent of the Holy Ghost ACTS ii 2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and filled all the house where they were sitting THE Feast of Christs Resurrection and the Feast of Whitsunday or coming of the Holy Ghost are distant one from another fifty days in space of time but are as near to themselves as the bark unto the tree in real substance and in spiritual conjunction In the Resurrection the strength of Hell was weakened for us In the descending of the Holy Ghost the vertue of Heaven was made powerful in us In the first the doors of the Grave were unlock'd that we might not be held in death In the other the windows of heaven were opened that we might be partakers of the life to come The Resurrection reduceth the soul into the body again which was dissolved by the sin of Adam The coming of the Holy Ghost doth again reduce grace into the Soul when original Justice had been taken from it by the same mans transgression These are parallell'd in primo gradu and the comparison may reach a little further to our present business that there was a great noise caused at Christs rising For behold there was an Earthquake Mat. xxviii 2. And loe as great a noise from above at the coming of the Holy Ghost for behold there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind These two honourable Feasts
Spirit of grace into the Soul and is not discerned there it sanctifies there it reforms there it changeth the mind and yet we cannot understand what manner of quality it is a thing of no appearance and yet of infinite efficacy Our senses are the Cinque-ports of all humane knowledg if any thing come into us either it must enter by those passages or we have no means to know how it should enter without those passages But when we feel the agitation of grace in our heart nothing is left us but to say Lord how camest thou hither We know not which way thou camest The Jews were sealed outwardly in the Body with the Mark of Circumcision whereby every man knew his Brother but our Mark is privily imprinted upon the Soul the Holy Spirit whereby we are sealed unto the day of Redemption whereby God only knoweth his Elect. God knows it the Conscience of the faithful feels but if we go about to consider what manner of Essence or Influence it is it will amaze us that we cannot understand it Again do you wonder at things which are rarely found then marvel to see how sparingly the Grace of God doth grow upon the Earth To whom hath the Arm of the Lord been revealed and who hath believed our Report The Sun illuminates half the World at once with his Light and leaves the other half in Darkness but the tenth part of the Sons of Men are not beautified with the Light of Grace nay the sixth part of the Earth hath not heard whether there be an Holy Ghost It strikes me with Admiration how so many do want the Heavenly Calling for the Ravens and the Sparrows do not want the comfort of their daily Food Naturas rerum minimarum non destituit Deus the smallest things that be God doth not leave them destitute yet there are Millions of men and women that continue in a barbarous and unrepented life So that it turns to be the Subject of Admiration to find out those few that are the small Remnant of Jacob. Christ himself marvelled at the faith of the Centurion a Commander and so submissive a Gentile and so devout an Example seldom seen and the Lord did marvel at it So he lifted up his voice in Acclamation to the Canaanitish womans praise O woman great is thy faith a denied Supplicant and so constant a disgraced Supplicant and so patient Seldom doth the Grace of God inhabit where it proves so well But O love the Saints and magnifie God in their good success Such as serve God truly in spirit are no usual sight therefore the coming down of the Holy Ghost was matter of Amazement But above all the Effects and Benefits of it are so beneficial to mankind that it amounts to the highest admiration It opens unto us the meaning of the Scriptures without which the Eunuch may read but he knows not the interpretation it teacheth us to pray with zeal and faith without which our words are but babling it makes us hear the Word of God to our edifying and salvation without which it is lost in stony or thorny ground it puts the tast of Christs Body and Bloud into our mouths when we receive the Sacrament without which we eat and drink our own damnation it comforts us though we find the horror of sin in our conscience and tribulation in the world without which the vengeance of God and the wrath of man would overwhelm us it seasons our actions with piety and obedience without which nothing that we can do but is corrupted with the root of bitterness it intenerates the most stony Hearts it hath civilized the most barbarous Nations it hath brought in Nurture and the Use of Laws and Discipline among them that lived by nothing but rapine and robbery it hath made the Flesh of Man which was a Cage of uncleanness to be the Temple of God Upon whomsoever the Spirit of Grace doth rest the Lycaonians may say of them without offence Gods are come down unto us in the likeness of Men. You may justly extol it with a boundless Praise and a boundless Praise must needs close in with an Extasie of admiration You would bless your selves with wonder to see a mighty Cure wrought upon the Body by the Finger of God a Cure above nature and is it not more astonishable to see a supernatural Cure wrought upon the desperate Diseases and Distempers of the Soul If one that is born blind be made to see O then they cry out Never was the like seen from the beginning of the world Consider your selves I pray you in the better part are we not by nature blind and ignorant groping in darkness and cannot find a true step to Heaven The Spirit is eyes unto the understanding it makes us walk in marvelous light so that we shall not dash our foot against the stones and ruins of tentations which of these two is the greater Miracle To cast out a Devil from him that is possessed would make the Earth ring of the mighty virtue Doth not Grace cast out a Legion of Devils from the Soul To skip over all other instances but one no Miracle which Fame did publish with a lowder Trumpet than to raise the Dead chiefly to raise up Lazarus that had been four days dead Why a continuance in sin is the death of the Soul and no Paradox it is to say it is an immortal death Yet Christ rolls away the stone of impenitence under which it is buried looseth our hands and feet which were bound with the cords of Satan calls us forth from the Grave of Custom renews our spirit and makes us live unto holiness and you being dead in sins and trespasses hath he quickned Colos ii 13. So you see how hard it is to know the Spirit how rare to find it for totus mundus in maligno positus how copious and infinite in his Effects and Benefits it is above our capacity to measure it and most worthy of amazement to admire it Now as we know the Gift of the Holy Ghost better than these Jews so it is the more admirable to us by how much we know it the better but the persons of the Apostles were better known to the Jews than to us and that circumstance they fell upon as a strange thing which they could not dive into why the Lord did put so great a Treasure into such homely Vessels There was not a Moses among them skill'd in all the Learning of the Egyptians not a Joshua in all the cluster that could lead a Battel not a Samuel that had worn a Linnen Ephod from his childhood before the Lord not a Rabbi not a Pharisee not one of polite Education It is that which confounded the Multitude at the 7. verse Behold are not all these which speak Galilaeans There was some reverence done to them in that Character they might have said are not all these Fishermen Publicans and Ideots Truly if there were nothing else these
their nearest Relations if they be a bar to the Kingdom of Heaven And who cares if revilers call it a drunkenness of the Spirit Thirdly Much Wine gives a great edge to valour and courage In praelia trudit inermes it runs into any danger because it knows not what is danger but there is nothing of such animosity nothing so undaunted as the Spirit of God The righteous is bold as a Lion says Solomon It must needs be that strength is doubled in him because he hath two lives in his heart this life and the life to come What could the world say but that some illapse from heaven was in the breast of the Apostles that those miselli those neglected worms should overtop the terrors of Councils of Prisons of Death of Devils Let such as Rabshekah call it drunkenness it was the boldness of the Spirit Fourthly Wine is a rejoycer of the heart Ecclus xl 20. But what joy is comparable to that which is begotten by the infusion of the Holy Ghost Let the righteous rejoyce and be glad let them also be merry and joyful A good conscience recreated by the Promises of God and assurance of forgiveness of sins is like a volary of sweet singing birds chirping and carolling within the Soul nothing but the pleasant notes of heaven and immortal blessedness When we sing Psalms of chearfulness let Scorners censure it for vanity but it is the new Wine of the Spirit which makes the heart glad Lastly As the airy vapours of wine make a man to broach his secrets and reveal them Arcana recludit so the Holy Ghost coming down this day did open the fountain which was sealed up before the Mysteries of Gods eternal counsel brought to pass in time by the Incarnation of his Son were made manifest to all the world This was it which confounded the Jews that were present to hear those abstruse things of Godliness divulged and they did not understand them The Spirit made the Apostles pour them out and they could not hold they were transported above natural to supernatural reason and they were carried above themselves as men even drunken with great Revelations Upon those words of St. Paul 2 Cor. v. 13. Whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your cause says Bernard Audi sanctam insaniam Festus told Paul he was mad here he professeth little less for the Gospel sake he neither says that he was sober and he doth not contend whether he were beside himself or no. Such as he was he was for the Church sake possessed of the Spirit and full of that new Wine which gave him a tongue of utterance to preach Jesus Christ to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness These uses rise out of an holy and mystical sense of the words and that is no thanks to these taunting Jews who being full of malice a sin that is worse than drunkenness burden the Apostles that they were full of Wine or as the Syrian Paraphrast reads it without mincing these men are drunken The just upright man is laughed to scorn Job xii 4. Isaac the Son of Promise was scoffed at by Ismael the Profane Gen. xxi 9. The Septuagint calls it Ismaels play or sport Illa lusio erat illusio says St. Austin it was his pastime to mock the righteous Be prepared therefore against evil words and reproaches you must have your share of them if your conversation be Christian First you have a Paracletus which is a spirit of comfort to bear them off with patience Then you have a Paracletus for that is the word an Advocate to answer against the Accuser of the Brethren who shall discover your innocence Apoc. xii 10. There is no good action but the Devils claw of scornfulness is upon it At our Saviours Resurrection the Jews made the Apostles Thieves they forsooth had stoln away their Master by night and at the coming of the Holy Ghost they make them Drunkards But this was a baptizing with the Holy Ghost not a sousing with Wine it was somewhat poured on them no strong drink poured in them it was no drunken thing but rivers of living waters springing up to everlasting life and this he spake of the Spirit which they that believed on him should receive Joh. vii it is the fountain of the water of life issuing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb Rev. xxii So Moses likened the inspiration of Prophesie to the dew falling on the herbs or to the rain poured on the grass Deut. xxxii It is no distempering heady liquour but the Cordial of joy and the Balm of Gilead If then the effusion of the Spirit was tax'd with drunkenness what do you that think profane persons have devised concerning the Cup of the Sacrament Horrendum dictu because it is our Saviours Doctrine by a figurative speech that the Cup is the New Testament in his bloud the heathen traduced the Christians soon after the Apostles days that they killed a Child in their private Feasts and Sacrifices and drank his bloud And a long time it was before the heathen Magistrates would be perswaded that such as partaked the holy Communion were not murderers Indeed it is true though they understood it not that such as partake unworthily are murderers of their own souls But again if Gods mighty miracle was scoft at when he gave grace to his Apostles to preach so divinely what will profane persons say to our weak Doctrine so much inferiour to theirs Quoties dicimus toties judicamur nothing is more snatcht at to be made matter of idle talk and frumping discourse than that which is delivered in the Pulpit Take heed and remember that Michol was barren who scorned ac David that no Scorner might be begotten of her says St. Ambrose But the Devil hath got a new way to bring both Preaching and Praying into contempt For Preaching let every one practice it that will and then it will come to pass I am sure if not Musto pleni spumâ pleni if they be not full of new wine they will be full of froth Says the Apostle 1 Cor. xii 29. Are all Prophets Are all Teachers Are all workers of miracles It can no more agree that all should be Teachers than that all should be workers of Miracles As for publick Prayer the deriders of sanctity call it not new wine but they call it worse by the name of that homely broth for which Esau sold his birth-right But as the Prophet said to the calumnious Jews against whom do you sport yourselves Against whom do you make a wide mouth and draw out the tongue Against whom do you shoot out Arrows even bitter words Are ye not children of transgression a seed of falshood Isa lvii 4. But this is the derision which Satan would put upon Religion in this unsanctified unpeaceable Age. First take away directly the publick Liturgie of Prayers that the people may have
of the Creation This doth unavoidably suggest unto us that no day of the seven is fitter for our celebration than Sunday or the first day of the Week when Christ rose from the dead he having dispatcht all the works of exinanition and given us manifest assurance and joy for our eternal redemption And so I fall into the next member propounded what ground we have for keeping this day weekly to the service of God in the Resurrection of Christ Some what have been heedless in their assertions have confidently delivered that the Lords day is clearly instituted in the work of Christs Resurrection nay that the Resurrection did apply and determine the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment to the Lords day These go so far that all proof and reason forsakes them It is true that our Saviours victorious rising from the dead was a good occasion which the Church took to celebrate this day but that act of his rising from the dead was not instead of a Law to appoint the day They are not the works of God but his words that institute Laws and where there is no Imperative act of the Law-giver there can be no Law to bind In six days the Lord made heaven and earth and all things therein and rested the seventh day yet that Cessation of God from his works had not made that seventh day in every week holy to the Jews without his pleasure signified to keep it So the Resurrection of the Lord doth not make the Lords day a solemn day for Divine Service in all our Generations by a compulsory Statute unless it were said in the Gospel and so it was never said you shall keep the first day of the Week holy in honour of the Resurrection Without some imperative word or sentence to declare Gods pleasure we cannot deduce a Law And if the Resurrection of itself without a Precept annexed had exalted it to be an holy day St. Paul would never have agreed with them that esteemed all days alike Rom. xiv Out of this perverse zeal to make a rule out of Christs works without a Precept some would not be baptized till the age of thirty years because Christ was baptized no sooner Others stood nicely upon it that Orders of Priesthood were to be given to none before that age and for no other cause but because he preach'd no sooner Infinite fancies would be multiplied if these ways were allowed for good Divinity It is safe and true to say that the day is kept congruously but not necessarily for the Resurrection sake And surely the Primitive Church could have made choice of no day of the Week more proper and convenient for the Religious Worship of God in honour of that principal Article of our belief and the corner stone of all the rest Ignatius calls every Sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Resurrection day St. Austin says Dominicus dies Christi resurrectione declaratus est ex illo coepit habere festivitatem suam Words which will bear no other construction howsoever some do torture them but thus that the Lords day is published by Christs Resurrection and from thenceforth began to be a Festival And again Domini resuscitatio consecravit nobis Dominicum diem promisit nobis aeternum diem The resuscitation of Christ hath consecrated for us the Lords day and doth promise us an eternal day yet there is no Imperative Edict from heaven to make it so but the light of holy discretion did guide the Church to appoint it so St. Austin hath clustered together many other admirable works of God done upon the first day of the Week in which God did make his first Creature of Light In which the Israelites went through the Red-Sea upon dry Land In which Manna did first fall from heaven In it was the first miracle of water turned into Wine Of the five loaves and two fishes In it Christ was baptized rose from the dead appeared often to his Disciples sent down the Holy Ghost and wherein we expect that at the last day he will come to judgment But the Resurrection is pre-eminent above all things else that hapned in it and that blessing though it do not ratifie a Law yet it is the occasion why this day is Weekly celebrated But I must tell you that one Analogy is ill prosecuted by some though it be vulgar in mens Writings That the Lords rest must be sanctified on what day soever it falleth that is not true unless there be a Law to enforce it therefore as the Sabbath was held holy when God rested from the works of the Creation so Sunday must be kept holy wherein the Son of God after his rising from the Grave rested gloriously from the work of our Redemption That last clause is falsly presumed for he made perfect our Redemption at his death and the price was paid for our sins not by his Resurrection but by his Sacrifice on the Cross and then he gave up the Ghost and said It is finished The day of the Passion therefore if you respect it as a resting from satisfying for our sins deserved to be made a continual Holy day but it was not meet to be kept with joy And mark it I pray you that we honour the day of his rising every Week rather than that of his suffering not because it is a better day or the day of his rest for he rested in the Grave and did spend his Resurrection day in much action but because it is the first day unto the Church of joy and gladness And a chief ingredient in an holy day dedicated to God is to rejoyce and be glad I proceed to the third thing to be inquired into what ground we have to keep the Lords day from any Precept mentioned in the Gospel either delivered by Christ himself or by his Apostles Certainly it never proceeded out of our Saviours mouth to appropriate this designed day to his honour and we must take heed to thrust Laws upon him of our own invention which he never imposed If such a thing had come from him no time had been fitter to express it than when the Pharisees cavilled at his Disciples for plucking the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath day Mat. xii Then he might have retorted that the observation of the Sabbath was expiring but he would constitute the first day of the Week to be the heir of the Sabbath Yet our Lord was so far from such a motion that whereas he reproved the Pharisees with much indignation Mat. v. and vi Chapters for their lax and dissolute interpretations of many moral Laws he corrects them often in the Gospel for being so strict in the rigid performance of the Sabbath which he would never have done if it had totally consisted of moral duties But about the definite appointment of a day Christ is silent for his Precepts in the New Testament are altogether touching spiritual worship And says St. Paul Carnal ordinances were imposed
holy Angels and herein the Bohemian Churches accorded with us as I see in their Confession yet these Ordinances we uphold because they are beautiful to Religion and contein nothing repugnant to faith and good manners not by any long antiquity as I was able to speak for the former Feasts For Polydor Virgil was most unadvised when he wrote that these Feasts were kept from the Apostles times one distinction is to be ruminated upon that there were some hundreds of years past between the keeping of such Feasts in Private places and universally over all the Church Where any Apostle or Saint flourisht in his life or seal'd the Faith with his death that particular Place or City did celebrate his Festival it gain'd no further as very anciently the Bishop of Smyrna wrote that Polycarpus his day was at hand and he would call the people together to celebrate it devoutly For the universal acceptance of them in all Churches the most will acknowledg that it began at the soonest in the sixth Age under Gregory the Great but with the best search that I can make I cannot perceive that Publick Holidays were kept in the names of Peter and Paul Andrew and John till in the Ninth Age at a Council gathered at Mentz by Charles the Great and some Festivals dropt in straglingly long after as in the names of St. Thomas St. Bartholomew and St. Luke in the Twelfth Age so that it is no great antiquity which upholds those Saints dayes but these reasons following First that we may give thanks that the Church had such examples and be stirred up to the imitation of their vertue 2. As the Scripture hath not commanded such days so it hath not forbad them and in things honest and laudable we must obey them that are set over us in the Lord. 3. A solemn Fast may be proclaim'd to avert Gods Judgments Joel ii 15. and if God allow a meeting of rest upon some new occasion of a doleful event will he not permit piety to triumph with joy and gladness when the whole race of mankind doth or may participate the benefit 4. As there is nothing repugnant in Scripture so there is something very consonant to it For though the Jews were directed like Children in all their Ceremonies yet the whole Nation being delivered from the Plot of Haman Esther and Mordecai ordained a Feast in memory of it Esth ix 21. and we must not think they meant to make it a Merry-wake but a time to praise God In the Jewish Ritual they had a set Service for it as one says and it is vainly put off that this was a Divine Law and not an Ecclesiastical because it is entred into the Scripture For do they find that God sent word by any Prophet no such thing Mordecai suggested it Esther sollicited it Ahasuerus a Heathen King ratified it and so it went current with the People Again Jo. x. 22. our Saviour went up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Dedication and was not that Feast a voluntary Sanction of the Synagogue it must be confest for when Antiochus had profaned the Altar of the Temple 1 Mach. iv Judas Machabeus instituted a perpetual Feast toward the end of November to dedicate it again unto the Lord. The principal grudg of some wrangling men is against the Feasts of the Saints not against the Feasts of Christ and that because they have been Idolatrously abused in the Church of Rome their common Maxime is adiaphora non necessaria horrendâ idololatriâ polluta sunt abolenda I will explain them Things necessary to Religion though abused are not to be abolisht as the Word and Sacraments but adiaphorous things abused with no less than Idolatry must for ever be laid aside and these have caused Pilgrimages upon opinion of merit Invocation of Saints Worship of Reliques This foundation is false for by this slight the Devil would blow up all our Ceremonies and we should not have one left Our Churches must be pluckt down and the Bells hang no longer in the Steeple for they have been exorcised and baptized I yield that a Ceremonious Ordinance polluted with Idolatry is to cease if the abuse can not be taken away as Hezekiah could not stop the people from worshipping the brazen Serpent but when manifested good comes and evil is but suspected the former wrong being redrest what equity is there to cast it off I should fight with many other such objections but want of time will part that fray and I shall meet with them all to the capacity of the understanding by shewing upon what abuses Holy-days are to be disallowed 1. It is impious to institute them immediately to the honor of the Saints Some of the Children of our own Mother have scandalized us for that fault and yet Card. Bel. doth acquit us but we cannot acquit him for he delivers it roundly that the honour of the day doth immediately and terminatively belong unto the Saints but we enstile the day by their name for their memorial sake as some called their Moneths by the names of their Emperors but in those days we do only worship God 2. It is very lewd to employ them to vanities Interludes idleness and not the service of God take heed the Lord do not say I will turn your Feasts into mourning Siccine exprimitur publicum gaudium per publicum dedecus says Tertulliam 3. To abound with excessive number of Holy-days is a fault likewise it cannot consist with charity to lay so many injunctions and burdens upon mens consciences It made St. Austin cry out Tolerabilior esset Judaeorum conditio the Jews were less vexed with Observations than Christians Clemangis complained of the excessive number in the Roman Church and especially that they read the Legends of Saints upon those days and not the Scriptures Numerositas festivitatum cives decet non exules says one his meaning is to keep many Holy-days was fitter for Heaven than for Earth 4. As a needless multiplication though for good Saints and good occasions is bad so to appoint them for false Saints and bad occasions is ten times worse their Corpus Christi day instituted by Vrban IV. an 1264. upon a forg'd Miracle is most disallowable they carry the Host in Procession to have a Creature adored A solemn day is kept by them for the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin into heaven which hath no probable Author till Damascens time in the year 800. There 's another a great deal later for her Immaculate Conception as if she were sanctified in the womb and had no original sin Some are consecrated to Saints that for ought we know never were as Christopher Hypolitus some to such as never were Saints as Ignatius Loyola the Founder of the Jesuits a man compounded of nothing but vain-glory dissimulation and subtlety Canus their own Bishop could say we honour the memory of divers for Saints on earth whose souls are tormented in hell 5. It
world and therefore Dulia a petty Worship will serve for them to cross this absurdity I confess that God is honourable alike as in one Appellation so in another but our eternal happiness is granted unto us by this Appellation more than any other But when as Samuel came to anoint one of the Sons of Jessai for a King Eliab was beautiful in his eyes and so was Abinadab and so was Shammah but God would have the Horn of Oyl poured only upon the head of David So let every tongue confess that the names of Jehovah Elohim Immanuel and Christ are reverend and glorious and worthy that our knees should stoop unto them as low as Earth and our lips carry them as high as Heaven But Peter hath wrought Miracles by the Name of Jesus and Paul hath preach'd glorious things of the Name of Jesus therefore my Soul and Body shall be prostrate to that Name especially which is wonderful and holy The neglect of this is an undutiful omission yet I reckon it not in the place of the greatest sins But the greatest reproach and dishonour which the Name of God doth suffer is in the mouth of the Swearer and Blasphemer that is the Tongue whereof St. James speaks that is set on fire from Hell Yea and Nay the trial of all truth is accounted in this dissolute Age precise and simple communication What God is he that you swear by so often Is it not he that gave you breath and can stop your breath at a moment Whose Bloud is that you swear by Even that Bloud which should wash away your sins is unto you an occasion of more pollution Whose Wounds are these you swear by Even those Wounds wherein you should bury your sins make them live unto condemnation as St. Hierom said Ipse aer constupratur scelestis vocibus that ribald obscene talk did adulterate the air So I may say of Oaths that are vomited up from the superfluity of sin Ipse aer profanatur scelestis vocibus the Air is prophaned and unhallowed by abusing the Name of God Lord to what an excess this windy airy sin of Swearing is come to I think for one reason the Devil may be called the Prince of the Air because he is the Prince of such blasphemous language And so much for the Honour due to the Name of God But secondly to Honour his Name and to disobey his Word is to imitate those disloyal Subjects of the Emperour Maximilian they called Maximilian scornfully Regem Regum a King of Kings it was because the Nobles that were under him lived like Kings without subjection or obedience Or it is to make such a God to our selves as the Church of Rome makes Bishops in the East the one is called Bishop of Antioch another called Bishop of Jerusalem and Title enough they have if that would maintain them but nothing else Keep your Masters Commandments and love his Ordinances to do them and then God is Honoured Concerning Obedience read and observe the life and death of Saul he would sacrifice to God and that of the fattest Cattel among all the Flocks of the Amalekites Why this was Honour one would think No it was not juxta Verbum Domini according to the word which was brought unto him by the mouth of Samuel and God prefers Obedience before Sacrifice This is the reason says Aquine in Sacrifice we offer up the flesh of a beast but in Obedience we offer up our own will unto God The Jews did so much esteem the killing Letter of the Law that they wore it as the chief ornament of their Vesture in the Fringe of their Garments as Frontlets before their eyes and about the wrists of their hands mark but that before their eyes for meditation about their arms for practise and execution There is a rule in Physick says a learned Bishop Per brachium fit judicium de corde The Veins come from the heart to the hand and there Physicians take their Crisis by their Pulse and motion So it is in Divinity you must make conscience of your knowledge by your practice and obey the word David held the word of God super mille pondo auri argenti above thousands of Gold and Silver Solomon esteemed the Law to be as bright as the Sun in the Firmament Praeceptum Domini lucidum illuminans oculos You have heard of Idolaters that have worshipped the Sun and Moon Much more let true Believers reverence the Law of God which is brighter than the Sun in the Firmament for so Elias thought and he covered his face with a Mantle as soon as ever the Lord spake as if the voice of the Lord were eyes sufficient to see by and he needed not the eyes of this body But far above Kings and Prophets and all the Sons of men the holy Angels are so ready to do Gods will that you shall scarce once read in Scripture that they were bid to go of Gods Errand but before you could say Do this they were gone to dispatch the Lords Employment Surely as it was a great abasement for the Word which was God to be united to the flesh of man so it is a great Honour for man who is but flesh to be united in obedience to the Word of God To contract my self in this Point Remember what manner of Law it is that we should obey St. Paul says it is sancta justa bona holy in respect of God that gave it just toward all men in civil commerce good for our selves to live in peace and safety What yoke then is more easie than the yoke of that Law which is holy and just and good Now in the third place as the Air which we hear sounding in our ears by concretion says Philosophy becomes clear water and may be seen so the Word of God which we hear preached unto the Ear in the holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lords Supper becomes verbum visibile a visible word in wine and water Honour one and honour the other for though they be twain in the administration yet in effect they are but one and the same one in application of our Saviours merits and the mercies of God one in fruit and efficacy to wash away our sins and to cleanse our Soul For as the bright Constellation which we call the Morning and Evening Star is one and the same So Christ in Baptism is the Morning light which illuminates Infants anon after they peep into the world and Christ in his Last Supper is the Evening Star Vltimum viaticum a light to shew every man the right way out of the world that is going to Heaven As one said of Prayer that it was due unto God when we rise and when we go to bed as a Morning and an Evening Sacrifice and therefore it might be called Clavis diei sera noctis the Key to open the day and the Bolt to lock in the night So I may say of the two Sacraments that they
are Clavis Ecclesiae sera Coeli Baptism the Key to open a door and give us admittance into the Church of Christ and the Eucharist is such a confirmation of grace that it is like a bolt that shuts us up into Heaven What reverence what devotion can be too much for such blessed mysteries Mistake me not when I speak of Reverence and Devotion I mean nothing less than Adoration and Worship to the Elements I allow not nay I abhor Popish Elevation and Procession I fear this lifting up of the Host ever since the Devil took up Christ to a Pinacle of the Temple I detest their gamish and gaudy Procession as if our Saviour did think it an Honour to ride upon the Popes Palfrey as Haman did upon King Ahasuerus Horse away with such ridiculous gesticulations But I am ashamed on the other side that there should be such froward Persons such unthankful Receivers of the Sacrament of thankfulness in our Church that deny the duty of their knee to the Supper of the Lord their feet stand stiff like the two Pillars which upheld the Theatre of the Philistines and Samson can scarce pluck them to the ground The very Devil durst not deny the truth in this Point Ask him what it is to honour Mat. 4. to fall down and worship As Maecoenas spake of a Roman that being amazed forgot to kneel unto Caesar when he came in his presence Hic homo timet timere Caesarem so these men are afraid lest they should over-reach themselves and give God more honour than his due It was an excellent speech of Scipio Africanus who being to ride in honour refused to sit in an Arch Triumphal Quia seni praetereunti non potuit assurgere if an old man passed by he could not rise up and do him reverence Beloved the Table of the Lord is a time of great triumph and solemnity and God is not passing from us but coming to us and is this all the honour that we will do him to stand upon stilts rather than kneel Will neither the apprehension of Christs Passion move us at that time Nor that Prayer which is used that body and soul may be preserved unto everlasting life will not that make us fall down Nor the consideration how Christ did humble himself for us unto the death of the Cross will not that make us humble Let it be the reproach of such profane men that Manna is faln down from Heaven round about our Tents and they will not stoop to gather it The fourth and last Honour which redounds to God is to obey the powers which are ordained of God It is good Divinity every day it is the proper Theam of this day O Lord make it a victorious and joyful day to thine Anointed Servant and our most gacious Soveraign many and many years and make it an happy and a triumphant day to his People that are under him and to their Children that are yet unborn Nazianzen speaking of Kings and Rulers to be the Images of God says that Monarchs and Kings in respect of God were like Pictures drawn clean throughout to the Feet the middle sort of Governours to Pictures drawn to the Girdle the third rank and lowest in authority to Pictures drawn but to the neck and shoulders but all in some sort are the Images of God only Christ is the express Image of his Person that sate down at the right hand of his Majesty Heb. i. O let Man who is made according to the similitude and likeness of Gods own goodness be faithful and Loyal to obey Kings and Princes in whom he hath imprinted the Image of his power and authority Mary Magdalen sate at our Saviours feet his Disciple John came nearer to his head and leaned upon his breast so God hath put all the world under his feet but Kings and Rulers lean as it were upon his breast as coming nearer to his love Now as the Altar was a refuge for them that fled unto it so Kings being as it were united unto God by an invisible copulation they are like priviledged persons always next unto the Altar and the hand of violence must not hurt them He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that honoureth you honoureth me But the Jesuit is more subtle than any beast of the field and he puts in a quarrel against Gods Anointed that if any prove an Heretick or a scandalous person to the Church nolumus hunc regnare then he hath lost the privilege of his Unction and his Scepter shall be broken by the Popes effulminating Authority I cannot answer this traiterous opposition better than by an Embleme of a Diamond with this word dum formas minuis He that pares a Diamond to make it give a better lustre and to point it artificially impairs the worth and value of the Diamond so to cut such large allowance from the due which God hath granted without that qualification to his Vice-gerents under pretence to make their Kingdom more beautiful and religious is the next way to break the neck of all Soveraignty it were well we had less of their art and more of their honesty As Agesilaus wrote to the Judges in the behalf of Nicias if Nicias his Cause be good let justice prevail if his Cause be wrong let favour prevail but be sure that Nicias prevail So say I if the Scepter of the King be a Scepter of mercy and righteousness God be blessed it is then we will honour it for righteousness sake if it should go wrong and not as we would have it so it hath far'd with other Common-wealths the Throne of the King is established in heaven and we must honour it for Gods sake but be sure the King be honour'd and obeyed There is a Fable which Plutarch hath to this purpose the Tail of the Snake began to cavil with the Head because the Head did always lead the way and direct the Body which way it list The Tail would not be contented unless it might go formost by course and the Head come sometimes behind but what followed upon this new contrivance the Tail prickt it self in thorns the Body was bruised every part offended and at last the Head was intreated to take upon him to lead and then the whole body was contented Beloved our part is to pray to God that the Head may run on in the right way like the matchless Pair that went before the mirrour of women pious Queen Elizabeth and the most excellent and learned of all wise Princes that ever were or shall be blessed King James Our part is to submit our wisdom to the secret counsels of the King and to demonstrate our faithfulness and love more amply by how much the times are like to be dangerous and troublesome but for the Tail to go formost it is a dishonour to God who hath given the Crown and Scepter to the King and it can breed nothing but disorder and confusion To sum up these four
and new travails by borrowing light of the Sun and thus much the poor Friars beat out by their own brains that never came near the Court nor Promotion Appetere gloriam propter proximum charitatis est propter seipsum inanis gloriae Charity incites us to get honours for the good of others and vain ostentation to have it for our selves So did Mordecai preach unto Queen Esther or rather prophesie that God meant well to the whole Nation of the Jews in her Royalty What knowest thou whether thou art come unto the Kingdom for such a time as this that is to prevent Haman and his conspiracy against the people O Says wild Esau what is this Birthright to me He knew not how to use the honour that God had given him indeed what is Promotion to them that stain it it belongs as well to the Lion and the Leopard to the Image of the Beast in their Coat of Arms as well as unto them that do not fear the Lord. You Great ones of the Earth says Synesius fortune hath befriended you suppose that I speak it to the best dignified and the most wealthy of this Assembly Now the World is envious and calls her blind unreasonable Goddess that none but fortune would have bestowed her Larges so untowardly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let her not be reviled for your sakes let her not be ashamed of what she hath done in heaping up such store upon you Let your deserts your liberality and your charity be her defence I hope there is not one among you that is so well conceited of his own righteousness not such a Pharisee in the Tribe that thinks God gave him ten thousands and more for his sake and for his Posterity alas no what is there more in him for religion and holiness than in a meaner man no beloved give them their natural passage derive them to the common use and do not appropriate so great an encrease Omnes slavii decurrunt in mare says Solomon all Rivers run into the Sea 1. There is Mare aquarum the Sea of waters into which all Rivers cast themselves so it is true in Philosophy 2. There is Mare politicum and so we pay tribute to the King that 's the Sea which the Rivers sometime replenish as need requires 3. There is Mare divinum Gods Glory is a Sea into which all praise and devotion must flow 4. There is Mare pauperum a turbulent Sea indeed the great wants of the poor into which charity must not fall like a drop from a Penthouse but it must empty it self from all hands as Rivers gush into the main Sea The wealth of this City is not so great but the indigency and distress of the poor is as great The Rivers may be very full and swell but the Ocean cannot be too full And I pray learn this one lesson the Poor are not superfluous helps of the State they are not such as can be wanted and spared The honourable person stands as much in need of the drudgery of the labouring man as the labouring man stands in need of the reward of the rich The state of him that sits upon the Bench is maintained by his own abundance but his necessities to which he must set his own finger without the servitude of Vassals is supplyed by the hard bondage of the poor As for similitude The Elm-tree is green at the top with the beauty of his own boughs and leaves but it is green at the bottom by the Ivy that clasps and leans upon it I give the top and chief beauty in this similitude to your own abundance but then there is beauty in it indeed when it is a shadow to refresh the low Shrubs beneath it the Blew Coat wherewith you cloath the fatherless is more precious in Gods sight than your own Scarlet Your Halls for several Companies set out with all magnificence and cost are not such stately buildings in Gods eyes as are your Hospitals and Bethlems and such pious Houses for the crasie and diseased Blessed are those Benefactors before God and their names shall be honourable on earth that have enlarged the Revenues of those charitable places and their faithfulness likewise shall be rewarded into their bosom that are put in trust with the custody of that portion and discharge it with a good conscience which will not be afraid to give an account to God For this cause God hath put you in authority in utilitatem publicam for the publick good I have insisted long upon this the next end why God gives honour in this life is not only to return benefit unto others but to reflect humility upon their own Soul A thing which the Princes of the Earth are not aware of but we should appear the more vile in our own eyes as God exalteth us alas what are Titles what 's Birth and Nobility Natalibus distinguimur dum sumus noble bloud runs in mens veins no longer than they run the short race of their life When death picks us out vale inquit ambitio it cashiers that ambition and in the next world we shall all meet as if we were letters in the Alphabet A. ante B. without distinction of pomp and greatness The figure of a Pyramid is a fit similitude before his eyes that is rising higher and higher in the advancements of the world for the bottom is broad and spacious but as you rear it up more and more so it grows less towards the top to teach earthly Potentates to think more humbly of their own greatness as they thrive in exaltation It was Pompey his fault to burst at the last Quia sibi uni parum magnus videbatur he was Pompey the Great in other mens eyes but never great enough in his own He that riseth so high in the fancy of his own pride is like a man that climbs up upon the great boughs of a tree without danger but aspiring to rest upon the smallest boughs above his head they would not bear him and so he tumbled to the ground Honour and Dominion is never safe but when the foundation is humility There is a memorable story of a Cardinal of Sicily a good man as it happens sometimes he was called to the Election of a new Pope and esteeming it a most divine honour lookt for nothing but Prayers and Devotions yea and Revelations from Heaven to pick out a man for so great a place He found it quite otherwise ambition managed the business there were nothing but threatnings and banding and base offers Sic fiunt Pontifices Romani says this Cardinal of Sicily Do you make Popes on this sort and so took his leave of Rome for ever O when I call to mind Ezekiels Vision that the further he lookt into the Temple the greater abominations were to be seen then I think if this good man had cast his eyes from the making of Popes by faction to the unmaking them again by treachery and poison it would have
Altar it is an indignity second to none and God doth greatly disdain at it if his Churches beg your liberality for their reparation beg they must by a Brief and that impudently or else they shall lie in the dust but when they do crave your help pour in plentifully into the Corban He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly If his Priests plead for the due and true portion that belongs unto the Altar do not construe Divinity so much amiss as if the Doctrine concerned their profit only but did nothing pertain to inform your just dealing Your voluntary benevolences though they be large and bountiful shall excuse no man of Sacriledge where that which is due is pinch'd and impaired He that wrongs the Altar I mean the Church in Shillings nay in Pence that are due to it they are not his Pounds of benevolence shall make him an honest man in the sight of God Do not flatter your selves in what you are not and let me tell you the truth one of your poor Farmers that occupies under you but one hundred pound Land by year in the Country pays as much to the Church Demeans by due as five nay as ten wealthy Landlords in the City And yet you think your selves the best pay masters to the Church but no man of understanding believes you He is called a wise Steward in the Gospel but his deeds were the actions of a Reprobate that bad his Masters Debtors set down fifty for one hundred and fourscore for another I should be this unjust Steward my self if I should not tell you justly and faithfully what you owe to my Master in Heaven they have more cunning than faithfulness that teach you how to strike off part of the Sum. And yet I beseech you mark one passage in the unjust Steward He doth not come with Quid dabis How doth your mind stand for a benevolence What are you pleased to give my Master But Quid debes What do you owe my Master Pay your Debts first and talk of your Supererogation afterwards as if you should stop the free passage of a Spring and then think to recompence the Owner with a Glass of Rose-water Such a kindness it is to stop the rights of Gods Ministers and then think to make them amends with some contribution of courtesie O let not this fair object of your manifold charity before mine eyes be blemish'd with Sacriledge for when the Sacrifice is withdrawn from the Altar is it not a great sign that God is despised So much of that general Point drawn out into the several branches Ignominia indigna a disdain much undeserved that God should be despised in the opinion of Man The upshot of all that I have to say is in that which follows ignominia dignissima a scorn and disdain justly deserved that the abusers of Gods Glory shall be set at naught in his eyes They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Mercy and Justice are in all the works of the Lord. Behold the sweetness of Mercy in two things gathered out of that which is before us 1. The order of these parts will insinuate it unto us for promise doth go before minacie the affection of love before the destruction of anger Them that Honour me I will Honour God begins at that end where there is a reward in the right hand They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed that is the conclusion the last refuge upon which he is thrust with vengeance in the left Mount Gerizim is the first hill that God mentions Deu. xxvii the Mountain upon which Levi and his fellow Tribes should bless Israel Mount Ebal is prepared in the next place the Mountain upon which Dan and his fellow Tribes should curse the People Behold I set before you this day life and death blessing and cursing Deut. xxx 19. As Medicine is the first offer of Chyrurgery Amputation of the putrified part is the last and desperate help that Art doth administer 2. God will Honour the Good he takes it upon him that benediction is his proper act It is set down passively and no otherwise that the wicked shall be lightly esteemed Come you blessed of my Father Mat. xxv Benediction is from God Go ye cursed says Christ in his anger cursed by your own sins cursed by the malice of the Devil he doth not say cursed of my Father Surely somewhat is in it that God will never take the act of Malediction upon himself Isa xxviii 21. The fury of his wrath he calls alienum opus his strange work his strange act that he will perform Non est opus Dei perdere quos creavit says Lyra. It is a strange work and comes as it were unwillingly unto God to destroy those whom he hath made And therefore we have it in a Prayer of our Liturgy especially against the visitation of the woful Pestilence God whose nature and property is â—ver to have mercy and forgive Peregrinum opus est ut puniat qui Salvator est says St. Hierom upon the forenamed place it is an improper work for him to curse who is the Author of blessing for him to destroy who is the Saviour of the world for him to put any man to light estimation from whom proceedeth all honour and glory And as Mercy gives a sweet relish to this Text so Justice is no less conspicuous for here is a punishment so proportioned to the fault committed as if God had studied to retaliate may I express it as we do barbarously in a Vulgar Proverb Qui meccat mockabitur he that despiseth me shall be despised You do well know Adonibezecks confession his Thumbs and Toes were cut off as seventy Kings having their Thumbs and Toes cut off gathered meat under his Table as I have done so God hath requited me says the Tyrant So might Pharaoh and Egypt have confessed that as they did exercise cruelty upon the Infants of Israel so the Angel slew all their First-born in a night As the Seed of the Righteous was cast into the water to be drowned so Pharaoh and all his Hest were drowned in the Red Sea So Charles the Ninth of France who publish'd himself to be the Author of that bloudy Massacre committed upon many thousand innocent Protestants in the Streets of Paris bloud was his end in great quantity says the famous Annalist of our Island sanguinis profluvio inter longos graves dolores expiravit the bloud could not be stanched which gushed out from many parts of his body and so after long and grievous torments he gave up the Ghost An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth bloud for bloud Children for Children drowning for drowning ignominy for ignominy this is the retaliation of true Justice They that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Where is the advancement of the Proud Where is their honour that would be noble and yet tush at the true nobility of Vertue and Religion Like as I have
your poor Lambs pine for want of milk how shall the great shepherd Christ Jesus afford you the comfort of one drop of water O the sobs of Orphans the cursings of Clients the tears of abused Virgins the bleatings of your Flocks the revealing of secrets Arcanique fides prodiga perlucidior vitro and this Psalm of David against Achitophel his false Counsellor will ring over heaven and cause judgment to fall down upon such who lifted up their heel against them that trusted too much to their slippery infidelity Yea mine own familiar c. Now the third complaint is sorest he that did eat of my bread Magnificavit dolum did exalt mischief against me It hath been said in scorn of the Epicure that the palate of his mouth was more sensible than his heart it is well that somewhat would please him But Achitophel had neither feeling of Davids true love in his heart nor any taste of his benefits in his mouth friendship and food were both lost upon him Comedebat panes and yet he is his enemy As in the overflowings of Nilus the corn fields are the better and the fatter for it but Serpents and Vermine grow out of the fruitfulness So the overflowing of benefits begets nothing in an ill disposition but Worms and Cankers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Bazil Not a Cur so fierce but will fawn upon you and lick your hands if you feed him Birds are not so wild but by giving a little meat unto them in time they may be brought to pick up crums at your Table what a brutish thing is ingratitude that the beasts may be won with that which would not win Achitophel Nay there are such says the Father that you lose them when you bestow kindness upon them and envy will repine that you have ability to supply their wants Jupiter hospitibus num te dare jura loquuntur c. The Table of hospitality was ever accounted a sacred thing And St. Austin thinks that Christ did reveal himself to Cleophas and the other Disciple in breaking of bread rather than in any other sign because they offered him part of their own entertainment at Emmaus And Salt was a Symbol of friendship among the Heathen because feeding at the same board was an uniter of affections and amity The Greek Proverb makes it the basest kind of love to have the relish of a Parasite in a mans mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to love no longer than we are fed But here is a canker worm that devours the sap of the tree that feeds him like unnurtured beggars served plentifully at rich mens doors and yet take advantage how they may break in and rob the house where they were relieved You may as soon reduce the babling of a mad man to reason as to take any measure of this vice of ingratitude Can you search the depth of that which hath no bottom It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sive or Colender which contains nothing that you pour into it It is gone like the wind which passeth by our ear and you shall hear of it no more Take the great instance from him whose case was most pitiful Why was our Saviour put to death For envy Why was he envied For his good Works What good Works had he done He fed the hungry and this bountiful Lord hath Gall and Vinegar presented to him He raised the dead divers of their own Nation and yet the giver of life is put to death Devils were cast out of another and the cleanser of the house is defiled vvith spittle Can any reason be given for this We may say indeed as one did to our own shame that there are a sort of men Divites aliorum jacturis immortales funeribus such as are rich by other mens losses and immortal by other mens funerals but what reason can we yield for that none at all It is a sin without a bottom and therefore it hath the greater affinity with Hell and damnation I have thought it one of the Devils principal projects that since the story of the Athenian and Roman Commonwealths were the most likely to be turned over and perused you shall not pass the Annals of five years but some memorable example of ingratitude will cross your way In Athens it was malum epidemicum their all deserving Miltiades Cimon Aristides Themistocles discarded disgraced imprisoned a City full of severe Laws against ingratitude Sed moribus suis quam legibus uti maluerunt full of opposite practice to the Laws In the Roman Polity Camillus Africanus Scipio Manlius many more either dethroned from dignity deprived of life or banisht their Country wherefore Africanus spat in their face again when dying in exile he did appoint this Epitaph for his Tomb Ingrata Patria ne ossa quidem mea habes he did not bequeath so much as his bones to his ingrateful Country These are the Devils Land-marks to guide after Ages by such disloyal presidents we want not history then to pattern this vice by example but if you ask for reason as I said before it is deeper than the Sea and you cannot sound the bottom Unless this may give a little satisfaction to the curious that the flower of vertue hath been always untimely cropt in Popular Government when the multitude are more prone to darken glorious deeds with envy than to make them famous by reward And I could never find in my reading that a deserving person found a due recompence in any State but by the bounty of a Monarch And therefore it is a thousand pities that our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our Kings and Princes that appoint prizes to them that best behave themselves in the Combate that they should light upon ungrateful Courtiers like Davids undermining Achitophel his familiar friend that eat of his breads c. I hope the truly noble and magnificent mind will say to this Non nova mî rerum facies inopinave surgit that he full well knew and foresaw he must lose many good turns when he bestowed them among men Est tanti ut gratum invenias experiri vel ingratos says Seneca One thankful man is so precious a jewel if you find him out that it will quit cost to try twenty that are unthankful Shall a good man lose the employment of his bounty because evil men have forgot the retribution of gratitude God forbid Shew me an Usurer that hath broke up trade for being cast behind by one bankrupt Shew me a Seafaring man that leaves to traffick for one losing voyage Post malam segetem serendum You cannot shew the man that will hold his hand from the seed hereafter because one crop did not answer expectation Nay I had rather preach that there was never more than one covetous Judas in the Church who loved thirty pieces of silver better than a thousand blessings of his gracious Lord. I had rather perswade you there was never more than one projecting Achitophel who would contrive
to Gods hand Shall we not remove the occasion which may bring us into bondage hereafter Tant â sollicitudine petere audebis quod in te positum recusabis Will you pray so heartily for that unto God which you will not set hands to when you may do it for your selves Arise Barak and lead thy captivity captive thou Son of Abinoam I see it methinks in all your Countenances that every man is more willing to honour this day than the very day wherein he was born into the world for we are born in tears we are preserved with laughter God forbid that the enemy should have the upper hand to make this day a by-word for ever and to be blotted out from among the days of solemnity But whether they dig by Sophistry to pervert the weak and faithless Or whether they give words as smooth as Oyl having War in their hearts or whether they send over Emissaries Boutefeaues to devise against Hierusalem Lord keep thine anointed King in safety make his Crown flourish long upon his own head and upon the head of our most illustrious Prince and for ever uphold our Church and Commonweale that as thy truth hath brought it out of darkness of error and thy hand hath protected it from dark Conspiracies so it may shine in these Kingdoms for ever as the Sun in the Firmament and as the faithful Witness in heaven Even so Lord Jesus AMEN THE SECOND SERMON UPON THE Fifth of November ACTS xxviii 5. And he shook the beast into the fire and felt no harm IT comes to pass from our desire to see mankind multiplied that almost no Infant is born into the world without the eyes of many to behold it but if any one have escaped a jeopardy with the hazard of his life as he is a creature new-born again from danger so we cast our eyes more wishly upon the person As many as the house could hold resorted to see Lazarus revived John ii Solomon's Porch full met at once to see the Cripple use his Legs Acts iii. All the Island ran together to behold St. Paul who had shook a Viper into the fire and felt no harm and that self-same Miracle is the employment which your patience doth now attend upon And though we regard the deliverance of others at the pleasure of our curiosity as we use to say at our idle time yet to see St. Paul preserved it is as Socrates spake of Lysias his Oration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 somewhat more than business For that you may know him to be set up as a spectacle to look upon how many petty deaths were round about our Apostle in the former Chapter As if he should have gone out of the world like Hermaphroditus many ways at once In a mighty Tempest in a Famine of fourteen days in the hands of violent Souldiers surely his life had ended here but that God had determined he should die honourably by Caesars Sword Having satisfied the Sea a little beast assaileth him on the shore But excussit all is well both here and there and he is delivered And besides this we may very well make it not St. Pauls case alone it is like pure Gold which may be malleated and drawn out a great deal larger even to the entire profession of the whole Gospel 1. Vipera that there is a danger and then 2. Excussit both an easie and a joyful deliverance Ecclesia in illo patiebatur quando pro Ecclesiâ patiebatur as St. Augustin said of our Saviour The Church was wounded in him when he was wounded for the Church So St. Paul was an Embassadour to Caesar for the whole Church of God and therefore the ignominy and comfort redounded to the whole Church both of his great perplexity and likewise of his preservation To knit all this together a Serpent was a very fit instrument if you will regard the nature of man in these four degrees First Adam was set upon by a Serpent in the Garden of Eden and was stung to the quick and corrupt nature afforded him no deliverance Secondly The Israelites under Moses Law were assaulted and stung but found a remedy 3. St. Paul in the New Testament is assaulted but felt no harm Lastly The Saints in glory shall not so much as be assaulted To be vanquisht in our conflicts is the misery of our poor nature to be chastised by punishment is the rigour of the Law to be threatned by affliction is the life of the Gospel to be out of suspicion and fear of harm is the state of heaven The times of Nature and Law are past the days of Glory are not yet revealed my Text therefore not unfitly is a representation only of the third that is of the season of the Gospel This is the sum of all If neither life nor death height nor depth Viper nor any other creature can seperate us from the love of Christ then we boldly say without an error Ego sum Paulus thus was Paul and thus am I delivered Beloved from this one venimous Serpent take notice of the whole brood of the Viper Every torment is de crinibus anguis in the Poet a kind of Serpent greater or less If we complain like Jonas far more of a little worm that offends us than of a great Whale that devours us then affliction is Venenum patientiae it festers and leaves a wound behind it But if we be shod with the preparation of the Gospel Super aspidem basiliscum ambulare Not to fly from harm as fast as our feet can carry us but to walk at leisure upon the Lion and the Aspe then we bring the Text home to our selves then we shake beasts into the fire and feel no harm In which words may it please you to attend to these four parts 1. Here is a perilous Adversary known in this verse to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 savage and hurtful but better known in the former to be a Viper fastned on St. Pauls hand 2. His safe deliverance in excussit he shook off the worm 3. Vengeance is shown upon this fatal creature Excussit in ignem he cast it off for destruction into the fire Lastly The barbarous people who beheld all this they put us in mind of a fourth part they thought that God was in the work but mistook Paul for Pauls Creator therefore for a conclusion here is mirabile salutare a plain Miracle from heaven More likelihood for Paul to be kild there could not be and yet he felt no harm So danger is the first thing in order in my Text but scarce in time deliverance the next part was not one whit behind it in which there is Digitus Pauli the singer of Paul to requite the Viper with the flames of fire and Digitus Dei strange help from God alone I say the Barbarians did confess it The corps of the Text it is a deliverance now on the left hand behold peril and hazard of life on the right
Aaron and the Bishops of the Church that succeed St. Paul Let them know that it is not in their hand to be avenged of the life of their Adversaries The secular Sword in the Priests arm did never turn to the benefit of justice but to scandal And as St. Austin speaks of Sylla revenging the tyranny of Marius with greater cruelty Vindicta perniciosior fuit quam si scelera impunita relinquerentur that it had been better the faults had been unchastised than so revenged so say I to them better vindicative justice should sleep than be awaked by the Clergy Let the Priests of Baal be armed with Knives and Lancers to fill the ditches with bloud as Elias did with water let the Sacrificers of Bacchus give wounds to every one that passeth by instead of blessing But Christs Disciples are sent about even without the protection of a little staff in their hand If David would have a Sword in the Church Ahimelech must answer Non est hic here is none save the Sword of Golias which was kept there not for any use of it but for the memory Our weapons are Prayers and Tears and if we strike it is but vulnus calami the stroke of our Pen and that should always be Penna columbina I would it were so taken from the Doves wing not unsavory reproaches and Satyrical tants as if our Writings were stuck with the quils of Porcupines Angels were wont to fight against Jerusalem and against Senacharib but did you ever hear in our days of a fighting Angel The Shepherds when they saw an heavenly Host Luk. ii and pitch'd in the field and coming suddenly upon them looked for no other but a battel but quite beside the old manner they sung Praises to the Lord. Beloved the Ministry of our Gospel it succeeds the Ministry of Angels It is to be marked that St. Paul salutes the Corinthians Ephesians and the rest with grace and peace only but to Timothy and Titus his two Bishops he sends grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ The Popes Parasites never lin putting of him in mind Girt thy Sword upon thy thigh O thou most mighty good luck have thou with thy battels and renown and shake the Vipers into the fire And who shall determine who be Vipers Who but the Pope Who then kindle the fire to burn them Who but the Jesuits Gladiatores potiùs quà m clerici Fencers rather than Priests of God Rome while the Gentiles lived in it had for the Ensigns of their honour duos pugiones pileum two Daggers and a Cap Junius Brutus was the Author But see what time can do and to what encrease it brings every thing the two Daggers are become two Swords and the Cap is turned into a Triple Diadem Well Ahimelech gave up his Sword to David the King Peter and the Apostles are the salt of the earth and have nothing to do with such instruments Me thinks the Pope in this point had a very good answer from the Emperour when expostulating why one of his Sons the Cardinals was slain in battel the Emperour returned unto him the Cardinals Harness and this word Haec est tunica filii tui Is this your Son Josephs Coat But I warrant you the Church is in a strange case if she may not sight her own battels Truly no. St. Bernard thought it safe enough in the protection of the King Vterque gladius he speaks it to the Pope non tuâ manu sed tuo nutu est evaginandus And tuo natu was too much and smelt of the Age he lived in But the intercession of the Church may obtain the Sword from the Defender of the Faith to maintain the Gospel It cannot be so in Julians Reign and in the time of wicked Princes I grant it why then let us forbish up our own Armory Faith and Prayers and Tears So did Nazianzen in the Churches distress 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we entreat thy flaming sword O Lord to cut down thine enemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we demand thy Plagues to light upon them and is not this good security God and the King Only one thing must be interposed for satisfaction in this point Why should Nazianzen or why should the Church curse her enemies with such a bitter curse Is not that breach of charity The Schoolmen very well have collected their answers into five heads 1. When you think the Prophets and holy Fathers curs'd they did not curse but prophesie It was St. Austins Collection long ago Solent figurâ imprecantis futura praedicere So David prayed that another might take the Bishoprick of Judas which needs must be a Prophesie 2. Their end is good and holy that the heathen may know themselves to be but men and in the bitterness of affliction seek the Lord. 3. Ad conformitatem divini judicii in all things to say the will of the Lord be done God hath spoken it in his holiness that he will cut off the wicked and we must say Amen in obedience 4. Ad regnum peccati destruendum not so much to destroy sinners as to destroy the kingdom of sin Curse your Meros curse it bitterly that the power of sin may fall with the fall of Kingdoms Lastly Ad consolationem infirmorum for the comfort of weak ones that they may know how the Church is the true Paradise by the flaming Sword which did defend it As Nero spake excellently when he entred into the Empire Nec odium nec injurias nec cupidinem ultion is ad regnum ferebat There was no hatred in his mind no revenge in his soul no injury in his memory so must we take the Kingdom of Heaven with the violence of love and not of hatred Better might Moths and Rust and Canker be suffered to be in Heaven than Malice and Revenge and Envy Then hear you godly to discern Gods finger from the hand of Paul He did not cast the Viper into the fire to shew us a way to be avenged of our enemies And hearken you ungodly for in this Text is the very similitude of your condemnation which shall appear by these circumstances 1. St. Paul gathered the sticks for fuel and so the good Angels shall gather the Tares in bundels for the fire 2. The barbarous people kindled the fire so shall the Devil and his Angels be your executioners 3. The Viper drops into the flame but we do not read it was consumed I say it is not expressed in the Text so tedious and everlasting is your misery In this world we mourn at every burial of our friends because death hath entred in by sin into the world Vbi mors nolentem animam pellit è corpore where death cashiers the soul unwillingly out of the body but in Hell-fire sinners shall bewail that there is no death Vbi mors nolentem animam tenet in corpore where death shall imprison the soul unwillingly in the body says
Enoch for our Lesson that is his Text Letter upon which he flourisheth Enoch is his Antesignanus his Standard-bearer that leads Noah and Abraham and many others after him and the same that he offers to the Corinthians I commend to you Such a Patriarch that the Holy Ghost hath made a great difference between him and other men For it is the method of the Scripture to record the lives and deaths of the Saints but upon this Person the stile alters he was a priviledged man from death which is the common condition of all that are born of woman and Moses speaks of his double life he could not speak of his death his life of grace and his life of glory Ambulavit cum Deo or coram Deo he walked with God that is the Summary Collection how he lived the life of grace And Non apparuit coram hominibus He was not for God took him there is the Miracle how he was wrapt up into glory In the dividing of the parts I will put no more upon my text than it was made to bear and two Points I am sure upon which only I will insist are the very bowels of it First the Integrity of Enoch Secondly his Immortality First how uncorrupt he was in his ways and Enoch walked with God Secondly that he suffered no corruption in the body He was not for God took him In the one member is how he used this world the other how he enjoy'd a better The one of faith the other of fruition The one for our imitation the other for our consolation And first your patient attention how uncorrupt he was in his ways And Enoch walked with God In a good Picture every Limb nay every shadow of it is worthy to be looked upon and in the story of such a Patriarch as Enoch was every word that breaths upon his name is sweet and memorable Now in holy Scripture or in those books which are contiguous to holy Scripture four things are remembred of him which will make him better understood in both parts of this Verse St. Jude in the fourteenth verse of his Epistle sets two marks upon him first in his Genealogy he was the seventh from Adam Secondly in his divine knowledge he Prophesied The Son of Syrach also in his rehearsal of famous men hath given him two additions more the one that his vertue was most communicable He was an example of repentance to all Generations Eccl. xliv 16. The other that his vertue was most unparallel'd or inimitable Vpon the earth was no man created like Enoch Chap. xlix 14. I will dispatch these with a running hand First to be the seventh from Adam what if that was no more than to be the fourth or fifth or any other number For it is a general Rule there is no prerogative to be born after the flesh But God rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work therefore some Writers must needs fall upon this observation as indeed divers have noted it that Enoch the man of the seventh Generation was taken away to rest with God which bids us labour in the works of mercy and repentance all the six days of this life and after those days like Enoch the seventh from Adam we shall be translated into peace and tranquility for ever Some others go farther a little more curiously than certainly the Patriarchs for six descents all died and were turned into earth again Enoch the seventh from Adam was carried away from the world and saw not death So death shall reign through six Ages of the world Septimâ immortalitas vigebit in the seventh Age corruption shall be done away and immortality shall take place for ever Such mysteries as these are but Speculations that tangle us but plainly and directly this priviledge came to Enoch because he was the seventh from Adam that he lived most happily in a brave society of wise men it was no rude or barbarous Age as if he alone had pleased God for five of his Forefathers in a right line were then living five the brightest Lamps of the Church when the Lord translated him A happy thing it is to be well taught by any single wisdom but there is more affiance in a number of Counsellors Enoch the seventh from Adam had no less than six renowned Patriarchs to go in and out before him in the fear of the Lord. 2. To be born in such a descent is an accidental thing a contingency But the next note upon him is that he had a Prophetical illumination Enoch the seventh from Adam Prophesied All the Sons of Adam in the good Race of Seth whose names are filed in this Chapter were Heads of the People Lawgivers Priests of the most high God Noah more eminently than the rest a Preacher of righteousness in St. Peters phrase yet Enoch stands by himself alone for a Prophet And no marvel if we hear no tidings of his Prophesie till St. Jude divulged it in the last Epistle but one of all the Scripture it seems to me that it stands there in the fittest place because it is a Prophesie that concerns neither the first nor the middle Age but the very end of the world Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that were ungodly The heavens and earth were but in their first beginnings men and women did but begin to multiply yet that divinity was preached in those early days Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of Saints to judge the world the expectation of that coming draws nearer to us than it did to them how much more should we prepare to see that with our eyes which they did but hear with their ears And to double our watchfulness and attention as much as the Ages of the world since Enochs time have passed on and multiplied Enoch prophesied that which Jude hath made Canonical Scripture This hath troubled some to dispute it whether ever he wrote such books as were once in the Canon of the Scripture I hold the Negative for though he were a Prophet and had inspirations yet Scripture is not only given by inspiration of God but such inspiration as is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction of righteousness Such Oracles were deposited by God with his Church and never suffered to perish How will it appear but St. Jude received those words by tradition Or quoted them as he found them cited in some other Author It were shame such antiquity should scape both Josephus and Philo who never mention it But at last some falsary no man can guess him authored a most vain Book upon Enoch Origen who perused it gives us a taste of it in his last Homily upon Numbers that it was stuft with secrets of Philosophy about the motions of the Heavens
it came to be said that he walked with God After this that hath been spoken I ought not to conceal from you any longer how the Septuagint have translated these words upon which I insist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Enoch pleased God This must not be shuffled over without observation upon it not only because St. Chrysostome and such other Greek Fathers as I have perused do so read the Text nor only for the Son of Syrachs sake Ecclus. xliv 16. who consents with the lxxii But for St. Pauls sake in whom we find the same character of him Heb. xi 5. Before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God The wisdom of God alone best knows why there should be such a diversity of terms a diversity I say without any real difference for it is but a Consequent put for an Antecedent he that walks in new obedience eschewing the company of the ungodly and setting God always before him consequently he shall please the Lord. If we had such a Master as Nabal was so crooked and unpropitious that none could speak to him or please him If we served under the Lord as Jacob did under Laban who had nothing but murmuring and persecution for all his fidelity then we might cross our arms and say we had lost our oyl and our labour But our service is full of benevolence and encouragement Euge bone serve Well done good and faithful servant every title chimes Alacrity And yet it follows that servant was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faithful what In all words and works No faithful in a little Enoch pleased because God would be pleased with his imperfect righteousness it is his indulgence to call things that are not as things that are he will give a days wages for an hours work in the Parable If there be a willing mind it shall be commended according to that which a man hath not according to that which he hath not he that affects the right way and would not swerve from it shall carry this badge upon his name that he pleased and walked with God Quamvis claudicet labatur though sometimes he limps sometimes he stumbles through the infirmity of the flesh Our renowned Patriarch in my Text was a sinner from his mothers womb for Adam begat a Son in his own likeness after his image but that likeness was the similitude yea and the very essence I may say of sinful flesh Yet such a Son of Adam doth please being made by adoption and grace the Son of God But I have not said all nay not a moiety what it is to please our holy Father For his love and complacency is not a bare affection like Man's Amor Dei in effctu non in affectu situs est Where he is pleased he doth not affect a thing only Theorically but will effect some good for it as Aeneas said of his followers Nemo ex hôc numero mihi non donatus abibit All that did attend his very games should have some reward for their labour God is not unrighteous to forget your love and your labour which you have shewed toward his name Heb. vi 10. Please not your self even as Christ also pleased not himself says St. Paul Rom. xv 3. And you shall walk before the Lord in the Land of the living Psal cxvi 9. Placebo Domino I shall please the Lord in the Land of the living so the Vulgar Latine readeth it More precisely to the cause In some sense all the Creatures and their natural operations do please the Lord but in a supernatural order nothing doth please him but that into which he hath put a supernatural bonity and those good effects which are wrought in man by his own grace He doth not only love and delight in them but will remunerate them with this sober restriction which might pacifie many hot contentions if the Devil were not too strong Bona opera non habent condignitatem ad praemium coeleste sed quandam ordinabilitatem that is good works have no intrinsecal worth or value to claim eternal life but through the gracious promise of God they are ordained unto it By Faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death Faith indeed is an ambulatory thing it hath no rest till it see God and walks from one degree to another from righteousness to righteousness and never stands still but in the clear Vision of the Beatifical Essence it walks no more but stands before the face of the Lord for ever From those notions which I have passed over grounded upon Text and Reason I proceed last of all to give them a little room in my discourse that have made either probable or unprobable divinations upon the word The Jerusalem Targum instead of Enoch walked reads it more at large he served or laboured in the truth before the Lord. Whether he were Ruler or Priest that Gloss decides it not or both Ruler and Priest as they were coincident in the person of Melchisedech and I believe long before him truth is a Princes care as well as a Prophets he is Custos utrinsque tabulae and shall answer to the King of Kings how his people discharged their duty to God as well as to their Neighbour But by whomsoever that good work is wrought that truth shall flourish upon the earth by the power and authority of the Scepter or by the diligence and painfulness of the Miter such a one shall have a blessed name that he walks with God that he is legatus à là tere he stirs not from his side he is set upon his right hand and shall remain among the blessed at that right hand for ever But howsoever I may be perswaded that Enoch was a Ruler and some great Government lay upon his shoulders yet his interest was more than so in labouring for the truth he was a diligent instructor of the people by word and communication St. Jude hath rehearsed a piece of a Sermon that he made wherein he preached of a better life to come Here again I must have recourse to the Idiom of the Scripture wherein I will shew that the very phrase to walk with God doth imply a pleasing or acceptable ministration of office before the Lord as 1 Sam. ii 30 I said indeed it is a message to old Eli that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever that is that thou and the house of thy Father should execute the office of a Priest and offer sacrifice before me And let it imprint this in your mind what veneration is due to the divine Oracles of truth when they are delivered unto you We are Embassadors for Christ says St. Paul but you must abstract that word from any earthly similitude we come indeed in the name of the King of heaven not as from him that is absent but invisible We do not only come from him to speak to men priviledge enough to our person but in the
that he passed into heaven without death is twâ—fold Quoad alios quoad ipsum partly in regard of others partly in regard of himâ—â—lf In regard of others what greater consolation upon the proof did befall the Church in that Age than from hence that there was an apparent instance that after this life God had prepared another for his Saints These are the very words of life Non solùm in verbo sed in facto God did not only give a promise but took this man away as a real pawn of his favour that Death should be swallowed up in victory Two things had hapned which shook the world with much fear First that Abel who had offered a good and a pleasing Sacrifice should be slain by Cain Is this the reward of the Righteous Shall Sinners always have the upper hand Hold ye contented says God do not ye see that Enoch is accounted worthy to decline Fate and Mortality because he was found obedient and just in the sight of God Put Abels persecution in one scale Enochs glorification in another and you will find how equally the lives of the Saints are mixt with afflictions and consolations The other discomfort was that Adam the Father of all flâ—sh was dead before their eyes and this struck wonderful terrour into their hearts till their fears were mitigated in the Assumption of Enoch For he that assumed body and soul together into heaven for power he was able and for mercy very willing though he marred the bodies of his Children with corruption to repair them again There was Seth the fifth Patriarch above Enoch then living far stricken in years and every day looking for his dissolution within fifty years after he was carried to the grave like a timely fruit dropping from the tree What a comfort it was unto him to see a Son of his own loins caught up alive into the Mansions of Beatitude As who should say at last such honour have all his Saints Such as love to put forth curious questions demand why Adams eyes were shut that he never saw this blessing for it fell out 150. years after his death why he alone of all the good Patriarchs was excluded from this common consolation It is ingenuiously answered that he had as much comfort as that came to proper to himself for he received the very words of the Covenant out of Gods mouth The Seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head No man else was so happy to have the living Oracle of the Lords voice sound in his ears that Christ should prevail against the enmity of the Devil Therefore to see or hear of the rapture of Enoch was not necessary for him but for all others it was that had not heard the primitive consolation Can you imagine but it kindled great desires in all them that believed to fly away like a bird unto the hills and to possess that requium which Enoch enjoyed Did not their hearts burn within them to see that glory which one of their Brethren and Kindred enjoyed How much more should the same mind be in us to be with Christ Who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the way-maker unto life who is gone before to prepare a place for us No Enoch no Abel is our pattern but Christ himself hath shewn us by his own Ascension how our thoughts should ascend upward to sit at the right hand of God for evermore Hitherto I have declared that Enochs rapture was a comfort to all true believers against the terrours of death but I do not say as some do that the Resurrection of the body was any way exemplified in this mans translation The Scripture hath left it out among the Arguments of the Resurrection and the best instances are those which are applied by the Holy Ghost As our Saviour propounds the Prophet Jonas who was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale and came forth alive St. Paul proves it to the Romans by this Argument If you have the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead he will also quicken your mortal bodies As if he had said being it is the same Spirit it will produce the same effects And he perswades it to the Corinthians with many strong demonstrations this is the principal if Christ be risen from the dead then are we also assured of our Resurrection for it is not possible that the head should live and we that are his members remain in death These are Apostolical reasons and we are not sent to learn this Lesson from the rapture of Enoch or Elias For indeed those ensampies belong to another purpose to that refining of the mortal body and not putting off of the flesh which shall befall them that shall be found alive at the great day of the Lord. The Mystery which was opened to the Thessalonians The dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds So says Tertullian Enoch and Elias never slept with their Fathers Quare documenta sunt futurae integritatis therefore they shew that body and soul shall be indissoluble which he calls integrity in them that shall be the last Generation of the world And Irenaeus The translation of Enoch makes it manifest that these gross bodies of ours shall be no impediment to meet the Lord in the clouds For as the hand of God which made man of the dust of the earth put him into Paradise so the same hand though he be still but dust and earth can exalt him to a better Paradise And that exaltation though it prove not the Resurrection so absolutely yet directly it proves that the body is fit and capable to be carried away with the soul into the Kingdom of God Thus far upon the benefit quoad alios which redounded unto others from meditating upon this story that Enoch was not and the Lord took him I must joyn a little to this of the benefit quoad ipsum how commodious and good it was to himself for two respects I told you in my last Sermon that instead of walking with God the Jerusalem Targum reads it and Enoch laboured in the truth before the Lord he was an assiduous Teacher of the wicked world to reclaim them from their vices a Prophet that spent himself and his strength like a candle to give light to others all the impediment was that it is an hard matter to gain credit to good Doctrine from them that are hardned in their sins and it is a great honour from God to the Labourer in his harvest when scornful men do not despise his Message Therefore to win authority to Enochs Prophesies the Lord did as it were stretch out his arm from heaven and take him away in the Palm of his hand this was a sure seal indeed to all people that his Doctrine was given by divine inspiration Many false Prophets have commended their vain impostures to the world giving out
confess that we owe both our life and our substance to the Eternal Majesty yet our thankfulness could return nothing to him but it is spilt and consumed to nothing Unto these two blessings which the Jews did enjoy by his mercy long life and rich means to maintain it sanguis adeps we have received two blessings ten thousand times richer first that the Most High did offer up his Son on the Cross for our sakes and then he did as it were sacrifice the Holy Ghost unto Man sending him down in cloven tongues as it had been of fire these are sanguis and adeps the best bloud and the best fat or unction in the world O let us not forget his honour and goodness to make continual mention of it and since the Father hath sacrificed as it were the Son and the Holy Ghost to us let us sacrifice our selves to the holy and individed Trinity both bloud and fat both life and fortunes both soul and substance Secondly by slaying a Beast in Sacrifice the humble Penitent did confess his unworthiness and the guiltiness of his sins which made him deserve to be quite consumed by the anger of the Lord even as the flesh of a Sheep or Goat was burnt in the fire As the Ninevites in their humiliation cast ashes upon their heads that such a spectacle of desolation might speak their mind that they and their City did justly deserve to become ashes and desolation Such a Ceremony in the Injunctions of Penance hath often been imposed upon infamous Delinquents to hold a wax Candle lighted in their hand before the people which was a silent confessing that as the Taper wasted away with the flame so their iniquities made them fit to be burnt in Hell fire but that they hoped the Lord would be merciful The old Manichaeans therefore and the modern Anabaptists had small reason to reject the Books of Moses because he delivered a form of Religion which consisted much in the slaughter of Birds and Cattle I am sure Christ allowed that old way while it was a way to be very laudable both by his Precept Luke v. 14. He bad the Leper whom he had cured Go thy self to the Priest and offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded and by partaking no doubt every year as well as at his last Supper of the Paschal Lamb a Rememorative according to the present point in hand that the Children of Israel should confess how their first-born deserved to have been slain as well as the first of the Egyptians were and as well as that Lamb was whereof they eat if justice had been strictly executed upon them as it was upon the Egyptians Certainly this was no small profit arising out of Sacrifice which made a contrite man discern his own sins and unworthiness wherein he compared himself with the Beast that perished And this was wont to be done in the Law by one annual Ceremony more solemn than ordinary wherefore St. Paul says in those Sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year Heb. x. 3. and in the usual Sin-offering which came often to the Altar according as such as were laden with sins did unburden their conscience And I will interpose one thing in a touch and a way to convince their obstinacy that hold it no way material for the peace of their mind to have the absolution of their sins pronounced unto them by the lips of the Priest such a one for ought I can see in this opinion thinks himself to make a Church alone without the Communion of Saints yet as he is convinced by the power of the Keys committed to the Apostles and their Successors under the Gospel so the Lord did refute him by the Ceremony of the Sin-offering under the Law for one part of the Sin-offering was burnt to God an the Priest had the other part ad significandum quod expiatio peccatorum sit à Deo per ministerium Sacerdotum to prove symbolically that God did remit sins by the ministry of his Priests and therefore God had the main share and the Priest the remaining portion of the Offering But alas though this second reason were very useful to the Jews while they were like Elementary Children fed with Signs and Figures yet now we Christians have other principles stronger meat for what need we confess our unworthiness and what punishment we deserve over the Carkass of a Beast when we see much better what penalty remains unto us if God would be extreme to mark what is done amiss who spared not the life of his only Son when he bore the person of our transgressions And there 's the third reason which is the full and complete use of all the ancient Sacrifices it was to prefigure the immolation the bloudshedding the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ those were the Parables of the Old Testament as I may call them and Christs Death was the intepretation of them all Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world says John the Baptist Agnus qui redemit oves the Lamb that redeemed all the Sheep which hear his voice Behold the Lamb of God slain from the beginning of the world Revel xiii 8. says John the Divine slain personally under Pontius Pilate but slain representatively from the beginning of the world in the immolation of all those beasts whose blood by faith did embrew the Altar The bloud of Bulls and of Rams the slaughter of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice did all belong to the acknowledgment of the same reckoning which at last was fully discharg'd by the bloud of Christ those were but like petty sums to pay the Interest in the mean time at last the Principal the whole Debt was discharg'd by that most Royal ransom of our Saviour In a word all those bloody Oblations were like John Baptist forerunners of Christ Indentures sealed with bloud that the Redeemer would come and die for his People Not the least Sparrow which was offered for cleansing but might move our Saviour to say unto the Jews If yes believed in Moses ye would believe also in me Now for as much as the Holy Ghost hath made us able to interpret obscure things since the comming of Christ how fluent and facil are these meditations to us to discern our Lord in every clean offering which was offered up by Noah in every Lamb which came to the office of the Sons of Aaron with great difficulty did the Patriarchs pick out that construction When we read of a Sacrifice we see as much in it as if Christs Passion were represented on a Stage Bernard made a pious and an eloquent gradation how faith gathered strength by degrees being a little spark with those that were ordinary Believers before the Law then a candle under the Law lumen in laterna no more as David said in his daies thy word is a Lantern unto my feet and a light unto my paths then like a flaming Beacon in
that was snatcht away unpreparedly without all sense of death It is true she had no Will to make she had no Legacies to bequeath for all was lost She had no house to set in order with Hezekiah for her Habitation was consumed with fire and brimstone yet she had a Soul to set in order which was ten thousand times more than all beside And although I will define nothing rashly against her for this judgment sake for I have learnt that modesty to let God only judge his own servants yet this momentary destruction of Lots Wife I am sure is worth both this and many hours meditations Quod cuivis cuiquam that which hapned but once since the world began to this one person may happen in some kind every day to any man Saul was desperately driven to seek to raise Samuel from the dead and appear before him this instance in my Text is one that never went down to the grave among the dead that she might always be in the remembrance of the living how she looked back to Sodom and became a Pillar of Salt Which words I divided formerly into such terms as might both respect the Contents of the Text and be expedient places for your memory Therefore I called the two principal branches an Epitaph and a Tomb. The Epitaph thus But his Wife looked back from behind him The Tomb which this Epitaph respects in that which follows And she became a Pillar of Salt If God made Epitaphs the stones of the Church should not be guilty of such flattery as they are for none of the offences of Lots Wife are left out in these few words but she is accused and very justly of these particulars as I shewed before 1. Of disobedience that she would not observe the precise Commandment of God in every motion of her body 2. Of great folly and blindness of heart that she would reject God and the preservation of her own life upon such easie conditions as to hold still her head 3. Of a Spirit most unattentive to learn for Lot went before her constantly and stedfastly the example was in her eye every step from Sodom to Zoar yet she would go her own ways 4. Of incredulity an incredulous soul Wisd x. 7. Either she did not believe that Sodom should be consumed as God had sent word or else she thought it would not be the worse for her though she turn'd about and lookt upon it 5. She relapsed and fainted in well-doing and desired to live again among those wicked sinners from whom God had withdrawn her This was opened in the first part The second is as strange for a Tomb as this was for an Epitaph A Christian Poet wrote thus Enigmatically upon it Cadaver nec habet suum sepulchrum sepulchrum nec habet suum cadaver sepulchrum tamen cadaver intus That she was made a Carkass that had no Sepulchre nay that she was made a Sepulchre that had no Carkass or rather that she was both Carkass and Sepulchre And to conform my self to the resolution of this Riddle I will consider this punishment inflicted from God two ways in reference to her self as to the Carkass and in reference to that into which she was turned as to the Sepulchre She that was punisht 1. Was one of those very few that professed the name of God among thousands that were unrighteous 2. She was one of four that were brought out of Sodom and yet there wanted one of those four before they got into Zoar. 3. She was well nigh pass'd all danger and suffred shipwrack in the very Haven 4. She did wilfully cast her self away at the last cast therefore we read she was lost but not that she was ever bemoaned After this in reference to the Pillar of Salt 1. I consider it as a new punishment the like was never heard 2. As a sudden or momentaneous punishment 3. As a miraculous and most supernatural punishment 4. As a mortal punishment but not as a final destruction Of these in order The Lord told Abraham in the former Chap. that the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was very great and therefore He was come down to see how grievous their sin was That which called him down to execute vengeance was not the iniquity of Lots house that little Family was all the remnant He had there to call upon his name but the filthy sins of the other Canaanites that abounded with rank and unnatural pollutions And the Angel tells Lot in this Chapter they were come to spare him and his but the Lord had sent them to destroy that City because the cry of it was waxen great before the Lord. They confess their Commission was given them to punish none but those Children of perdition that were aliens from all fear of God And yet behold one that was in the Catalogue of them that professed the Worship of God she offended and the hand of Gods fury is stretched out upon her She became a pillar of Salt Says one upon it Par est ut judex priùs suam domum examinet quà m alienam A Magistrate that will reform abuses let him make his own house the first example of reformation and then his Justice may more confidently call any to account that are not so near unto him St. Paul grounding upon that equitable case deciphers a good Bishop to be one that ruleth his own house well for if a man know not how to rule his own house how shall he take care of the Church of God 1 Tim. iii. 5. This brings it to our apprehension directly why this person in my Text was chastised with no less than death because God would shew his justice upon his own Family where they sinned that unconverted Reprobates might expect nothing but the utmost of severity For if these things be done in a green tree what shall be done in a dry Luk. xxiii 31. There is no sort of anguish no calamity of any name or magnitude Captivities Famines Diseases that doth not shew it self as soon within the bowels of the Church as in any part of the World beside For a small trespass is taken more unkindly at their hands where grace abounds than a great profanation from the Heathen who were left as forsaken as the Mountains of Gilboa in Davids curse upon whom no dew of heaven did fall A small sin in Judah is as bad as an Idol in Samaria A lukewarmness or faintness of Religion in Laodicaea as bad as Paganism in those Regions that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death Therefore the first stroke of indignation shall light upon their sins from whom the Lord did expect the least offence and the most obedience Slay utterly both young and old both Maids and Children and begin at my Sanctuary says God Ezek. ix 6. You hear that the sword of vengeance shall be drawn forth first against the Sanctuary that is the pollutions of the Sanctuary Christ will sooner take his scourge
roved at random so I would not put it upon Philosophical Inquisition how she became a Pillar of Salt He that wrote of the marvelous works of God that occur in Scripture and calls himself St. Austin bids it be observed that there is an hidden vein of salt in every mans body as appears by the tears in our eyes and the rheum in our mouth and that this salt Spring did overflow all the body in an instant as God commanded and turned the whole substance into its own malignity Aben Ezra the Rabbine says that she felt part of the punishment of Sodom for as it is Deut. xxix 23. The whole Land is brimstone and salt and burning So that the fire that came down from God upon those Cities had salt and sulphur in it and she was scorched with those salt sulphurious flames and made a Pillar of salt Not incinerated as the word is as if a sudden flash of fire had wasted her into small corns of salt as into ashes for then the translation should have been not statua but cumulus not a Pillar but an heap of salt and so indeed it was translated before St. Hieroms time but when he visited the Holy Land and saw this Figure with his own eyes he mended the errors of all former Copies and translated it a Pillar of salt Nor was it of the nature of that salt which we make by Art and sometimes compact it into Pyramidal shapes and other Figures that you know fall away into dirt if wet take it but this lump into which Lot's Wife was congealed endured all injuries of Rain and Snow Therefore it was that which we call Sal metallicum the Metal of salt which is a durable stubborn stone which kept the shape of an humane body as the Reporters say continually lick'd upon by the Herds of Cattel that grazed in those places to provoke their appetite by the saltish sapour yet not at all diminished Nunquam pluviis nec diruta ventis says Tertullian but that Poem of his hath such prodigious additions that I shame to rehearse them Burchardus says that this fatal Monument was to be seen in his days not three hundred years past between Engadi and the Red Sea The Jerusalem Targum undertook to Prophesie almost 1600 years ago that there it was to stand untill the Resurrection And therefore I conjecture that Luther had met with none of these reports for he says that the Pillar of Salt into which she was turned was presently destroyed with the City of Sodom and pash'd to pieces with thunder But all Geographers who have wrote upon it testifie there was the very taste of salt in it literally it was a Pillar of salt Others that love to find more in the Scripture than there is in the Letter say it is not so called because it was of a saltish Element but for another respect 1. Because it was to stand for long continuance and a Pillar of Salt is as much as an incorruptible Pillar so Numb xviii Gods eternal Covenant with his people is called a Covenant of Salt for Salt is a preservative from Corruption 2. As Salt makes Viands taste well upon the palate so the sight of this dreadful Monument was to put the savour of Gods judgements in the thoughts of them that called it to mind Humilibus fidelibus quoddam praestitit condimentum ut sapiant aliquid says St. Austin Every notable punishment that a sinner incurs in the eyes of all the world it is salt unto the wise to make them cautious In me quis intuens pius esto as it was engraven upon the Monument of an Egyptian King who went down with much sorrow to his grave because of his Sacriledge so look upon this pair that came out of Sodom upon Lot and his Wife Hic perfectè mundum deserit illa tepide he renounced the vain world perfectly and devoutly and it went well with his life She said she would renounce it and did not persevere and she died relapsing Though she was foolish she may make us wise though she were evil yet her salt is good Let her unsavouriness be our seasoning There are yet two Points to be dispatcht The one of terrour that this was a momentaneous and a sudden death The other of some alloy that though it were a mortal yet we cannot say it was a final destruction She that is her body was concrete into salt in an instant the soul you know could admit of no such transmutation but it was violenced out of the flesh in the twinkling of an eye O if she had suspected her eyes should have been closed for ever at that turning her self about she would not have look'd back for all the world If Ananias had imagined he should have breathed his last while he was forging a lie to deceive the Holy Ghost he would not have retained a denier of his possessions but cast it all at the Apostles feet No man would be an unrepentant sinner to day but that he hopes for to morrow No man can be so desperate to sin so fast but that he thinks his Age runs away but slowly The Devil knows there is no way to advance his Kingdom but to set a false glass before us that we have long to live Perswade your selves that your days are numbred and the strength of sin is evacuated I never heard of more constancy in any man of this kind than Thuanus records to have been in a Landgrave of Hessen within these forty two years for the space of ten years and more before he departed he composed himself to die every night with all the solemnity of taking of leave of Children Friends and Family confessing where he had offended that day and asking pardon of his worst inferiours and so he left very little room for any sin to enter because he prepared himself to give place unto death and to admit it every moment Beloved against death we cannot fortifie our selves against the suddenness of death we may and yet our labour is to put off death and to live always which is impossible and nothing is less studied than to mitigate the mischief which may come by sudden death and that is possible and necessary But I will not close my Text in a disconsolate key She became a Pillar of salt that is her body became a hard rock and her breath was stopt before she could cry Ah Lord God or ah be merciful Surely death in the very act of sin is most terrible especially put this unto it that it was no common Visitation But from hence shall we leave her among those that went down into the nethermost pit Gods gentleness and mercy will not let me say so Christ prevented such censures when he gave us some comfort of their salvation on whom the Tower of Siloam fell suddenly How the soul may commend it self to the compassion of God in the very moment of egress and out passage it is within the hope of
gave you Sons and Daughters you give Obsides Domino Hostages unto God and if you rebel as Nathan said to David because thou hast made the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the Child that is born unto thee shall surely die The Fathers sins are visited unto the third and fourth Generation while the Grandsire full of fourscore years of sin stays awhile behind like the rotten root of evil and sees the tender branches cut away because the root was bad and corrupted Thus is the brief sum of the second part of my Text man perished in iniquity Corporeorum incorporeorum horison says Synesius the noble Image of God Secondly That man Achan a branch of the Olive tree even Israel which God had planted But an evil branch is evil though the stock were a Cedar of Libanus Non debent gloriari sarmenta quia non sunt spinarum ligna sed vitis says St. Austin Is it any glory for the dead branches to boast they were Vine branches and not Heythorn since they are cut off and cast away Lastly Non solus periit he fell down like the Tower of Siloam and brain'd all that were about him I have but one short part to dispatch Periit his execution how that man Perished c. To search much into Achans punishment were not the way to be more learned but more tormented And he that is Ingeniosus in suppliciis exquisite in describing the ruine of any man his invention smells of tyranny Briefly thus Every man in the rank of a Subject lives under the authority of three Commanders 1. Under the Conscience of his own heart 2. Under the Laws of his King 3. Under the Commandments of God Triplici nodo triplex cuneus every knot hath a wedge to drive into it And if we displease either God or the King or our own Conscience vengeance meets us on every side Conscientia parit vermem Magistratus mortem Deus Gehennam Conscience hath a worm in store nay a Cockatrice to sting us the Magistrate bears a Sword to divide us but especially it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God In an evil conscience we die unto all joy and comfort In our trespass against the Laws of man we die unto men In breaking the Statutes of God we die unto heaven surely he deserved not to die but one death that offended three All sin is mortal yet among sins some are still-born and make no noise in the world Some are crying sins that have a voice and a voice like the Edomites that cryed against Jerusalem Down with it down with it unto the ground Like the Jews that cried Crucifie him crucifie him and doubled the files of their iniquities Like the men of Ephesus that for two hours space made a noise Great is Diana of the Ephesians When sinners do double thus God finds out more deaths than one to punish them as if judgment had ransack'd the body to find two or three souls and would not leave to destroy all the brood of the Viper Abimelech a cruel murtherer of seventy brethren was crush'd under a Mill-stone and slain with his own Servants Sword it is pity he died not seventy times It was Sauls destiny first to die by the Arrows of the Bow and then to fall upon his own Sword It was Absolons destiny to be hang'd by the head in the Oak tree and be thrust through the heart with the Darts of Joab It was Judas his destiny to cast himself from the Gallows and to be broken in pieces upon the ground And lastly it was Achans destiny to be stoned with stones and then burnt with fire Thus that man perished c. It is very likely if this notorious rich sinner had lived his Tomb should have been as costly to lie over his dead corps as his Babylonish Garment was sumptuous to cover his living body But now there is not so much honour left him for his burial as earth to earth all is turned to ashes that the winds may blow him back again out of Canaan into Egypt from whence he brougt his iniquity A fair Tomb I confess cannot prove that I died a good man but that I died a wealthy Yet some honour is to be shewed to our dead corps because a dead body is nearer to the Resurrection than a living The Egyptians embalming the dead and the Odours and Spices which the Jews were wont to bestow do condemn those uncivil Funerals which some report of Geneva and Amsterdam that bury their dead in ditches and dunghils It makes Jesuits scoff at our Religion Scis ut haeretici colant parentes sulcant coemiteria sic colunt parentes Michael the Archangel fought about the body of Moses and Prudentius played the Poet very well touching Eulalia a Virgin Martyrs body cast abroad in a frosty night to the injury of the air and before morning it was overspread with icycles like a crystal Tomb. Pallioli vice linteoli ipsa elementa jubente Deo exequias Tibi virgo ferunt And certainly there was some such thing or St. Austin would not report it that divers Miracles as healing the sick and converting unbelievers have been wrought by Gods providence at the Tombs of the Martyrs to honour their death and memory But Achan was denied this happiness and though he had two deaths yet he had not one Tomb to be buried in Only an heap of stones were cast upon him for an infamy that as Varro said Monumentum quasi monimentum a Monument for admonition that we fear God and rebel not like Achan that perished fearfully c. The Papists will not leave Achan thus and remove him from Joshuahs hands and the Valley of Achor where he suffered into Purgatory But by what proof or warrant or Enditement Expect an Exposition fit for the nimble brains of the Colledge of Jesuits Achan was stoned with stones and then he died Afterward he and all he had were burnt with fire viz. Opera ejus accensa sunt in Purgatorio he and his works were burnt in Purgatory A likely matter since Joshuah was commanded to burn him and not the Devil Do you think Columbus that found out the fourth part of the world could have found out this third place to receive souls in which is neither Heaven nor Hell The Devil is much beholding to his Advocates that have made him not only Prince of darkness but that which God never made him Prince of Purgatory Some perchance will go a thought further and pronounce a fearful sentence that this man was wiped for ever out of the book of the living That is periit at the height the Lord bless us from it But St. Chrysostom was more mild and charitable As the digging of the earth says the Father and the plowing of it may seem but churlish usage yet that is the way to make it fruitful Ita magis erat Achani salutare supplicium quam aliis impunitas So Achan might go sooner to
one in the Gospel so strong that none could hold him no not the Chains wherewith he was tied but he brake them asunder Now this unhappy person of whom I speak was possessed with a Devil Mar. v. 4. The same evil spirit is entred into those robustious men who esteem them dastards who quake at the threatnings of the Law and faint at the terrours of death and judgment to come No fetters of Religious fear will hold them Are not these Sons of Anack mighty Giants And we that tremble and weep at the guilt of our sins are we not as Grashoppers in their sight You cannot be of that mind if you consider that it is not strength in the wicked but madness to carry themselves stubbornly before an infinite and omnipotent Majesty Gregory the Great is copious in a whole Sermon upon this subject that there is no such weakness as the fortitude of Reprobates Says he out of the Prophet Isaiah they are strong to drink Wine and mighty to pour in strong drink Is not that a weakness Ad inanem gloriam cum discrimine vitae perveniunt They will uphold their reputation in frivolous quarrels with the hazard of their lives nay with the hazard of their salvation and is not that a weakness They will endure attendants scorns base Offices for favour They will travel by Sea and Land in perils of Thieves in perils of Waâ—ers for the hope of Riches That is more than I can do says Gregory for this worlds good Profectò ego non sum tam fortis in ejus desiderio I am not so hardy to suffer so much for these transitory things Lastly Says he Contra flagella conditoris insensibiliter perdurant God threatens them and they do not weep he corrects them and they do not feel it There is a num Palsie in their conscience I may truly say they are dust Nullus pulvis est tam pulvis There is no moysture in them no living sap in their root if there were any thing of the life of grace in them they could not be so stupid Gregory concludes this Doctrine with a good distinction Reprobi sunt debiliter fortes boni sunt valenter infirmi Reprobates have great infirmity in their fortitude the Children of God have great fortitude in their infirmity Therefore it is more than manly it is Saint-like Apostolical Prophetical to weep because we have grieved the holy Spirit of God with our iniquities It is Apostolical by the instance of St. Paul Phil. iii. 18. There are many that walk of whom I have told you before and now I tell you weeping they are enemies to the Cross of Christ Even those superstitious ones that fall down before the sign of the Cross they are enemies to the Cross Many of them walk among us too many God help it their Idols and Images I fear will bring a curse upon the Land If St. Paul were alive he would tell us weeping that they are enemies to the Redemption obtained by Christ And weeping for sin is Prophetical Jeremy was never satisfied with weeping for the deplorable state of the Jews O that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears Chap. ix 1. Et quid nisi vota supersunt The most that we can do is to wish for such a tender and compassionate soul It is to be wish'd I say but few there be that can overcome themselves to perform it As Leo said of his days men are little touched with any thing that God doth to us in his Justice or his Mercy Nec de correctione compungimur nec de remissione laetamur We have neither spiritual joy when God forgives us our sins nor penitent compunction when he corrects us for our sins Whence comes this hardness of heart Hath Mary Magdalen left none of her generation behind her Says the Son of Syrach What is created more wicked than the eye Therefore it weeps upon every occasion Upon every occasion it is ready to shed moisture but not upon the best occasion for when will it weep for its own transgressions because it hath been wanton and full of lust As a Widow that did not love her Husband will follow his Coarse with dry eyes to his burial So Christ is the Husband of every soul which he hath espoused to him in Baptism If your sins grieve him and provoke him to depart from you either lament it with many tears or the case is plain that you never loved him But the Devil hath turned the River of our tears the wrong way A vain Interlude a Fable upon the Stage represented in due action will make the soft Spectator to wet his handkercher So the River is diverted from its natural channel for when we are put in mind of the damnableness of our sins our cheeks are as sear as the Mountains of Gilboa upon which no drop of dew did fall Do you wonder at your selves and ask the reason of this Philosophy will tell you that love is stronger than hatred and hath more command of our passions We have tears in readiness to bewail the death of our dear friends love hath such power over our tender affections but when we are upon mortification to deplore and hate our sins the drops of our eyes are not so easily commanded And this is marvelous in Nature that you shall sooner see fire sparke out of our eyes in hot desire of revenge than tears which are most proper to the eye for our grievous sins But will Philosophy assist us with no better reason Then hear Divinity which will tell you the truth It is presumption rank presumption that will not let our shallow repentance go on unto tears We are not altogether perswaded that God is in earnest when he threatens what manifold woes he will bring upon us for our rebellions That desperate courage which we assume to our selves upon great likelihood of impunity is that which mitigates our sorrow and suffers it not to break forth into any great measure of lamentation We dream that the bloud of Christ is medicinal even for impenitent sinners Thus Satan kills us with that Balm which is distilled out of his wounds to cure us But keep your faith from these impostures and fawnings of the evil one who would make you laugh your selves to death lik those that are bitten with the Tarantula The Stag when he is at the bay and knows there is no way but death for him falls a weeping And are we not surer that no tittle of Gods minacies shall fail than if we were at bay with the Stag and ready to be pluck'd down Believe that God is a severe Judge and that all his threatnings are true that there is a day to come when there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth And when you fear this indeed then you will practise my Doctrine without teaching If any great sickness hold you that you think death is at hand then your eyes will pay the tribute of sorrow to
a square body throw it as you will it lies flat and firm every way it keeps the same decent posture And so much for the second inducement which Jonadab had to ordain this Vow of Tabernacles and abstemiousness it was for the better preparation against Captivity In communi fame atque obsidione quà m utilis fuit frugalitas c. When Famine and Wars were in the City great advantage had the Rechabites above other men by their temperance and hard lodging in Tents says Calvin upon this place Lastly Jonadabs counsel was as an Oracle of God to frame such a Vow at this season Because the riches of the Land did exceedingly multiply above all Nations from the Reign of Solomon and to profess so much contempt of the world when all Jury was like a rich Exchequer full of Silver and Gold what an honour was this to the Rechabites that they durst be poor when all the Kingdom surfeited of plenty Quid habere nobis turpe sit quaeris Nihil says the Poet. Nothing was shame-worthy in that place but to be poor and have nothing Yet nothing they possess but such a quantity of substance as might best serve them to praise the Lord. Cattel they had and Lambs they had wherewith the Priests might make attonement for their sins and the sins of Judah Goods and substance which was not useful to the Temple of God to them such Riches were Apocryphal Some bring Censors of Gold some sweet Odours to the Altar They have no such Offerings But as it was said of Epictetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 None so poor in the riches of this world none so rich in the expectation of the next world The children of the true Church are compared to sheep coming from the shearer Cant. i. Whereupon says one Christianus est ovis detonsa hoc est omnibus mundanis spoliata A Christian is a sheep that stands dumb and is willing to part with all his Fleece and to lay it at the feet of the Shearer The Lord is merciful calcantibus terram says the Prophet Isaiah to them that spurn the earth From whence St. Austin raised this Meditation Est iis misericors qui amore coelestium terrena contemnunt He is merciful to men who trample the riches of the earth under feet and meditate upon the Kingdom of Heaven For as the Fathers observe upon St. Peters words Depart from me for I am a sinful man that such a depart was a Fishers hook to draw Christ nearer unto him So for these men to plant neither Vine nor Olive nor to so Seed in the Canaan beneath was to purchase the holy Paradise of happiness which remains for ever O let me oppose the life of these men to the covetous death of many in our Age that put out money upon Usury after they are buried like him in the Poet having his deaths wound Terram ore momordit he would carry his mouth full of earth away with him as if he should not have enough in his grave Had not the Israelites been too richly furnished with golden Ear-rings they had never had stuff to make an Idol there had been no Calf in Horeb. Had not Hezekiah been exalted with the pomp of so great a Treasury the Messengers of the King of Babylon had not known the riches of the Kings Palace an Army had not been brought against the Kingdom Methinks says Seneca the Romans should tremble at nothing more than to see Plate in their Streets and Jewels in their Chains and Gold upon the Posts of their doors Cogitet Romanus has apud victos se reperisse When they were first Conquerours they had none of these but they found them among their vanquished Captives So let Judah remember that they found their Gold and Silver among the Canaanites who were slain and rooted out And are they not fair baits to fall again into the hands of Conquerours Now alas says Synesius no man can think he is enthralled in the Fetters of Captivity as long as his Fetters be of Gold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are not wary of mischief being in a glorious misfortune Had they been all as wise as the Rechabites their abundance had not dazled the eyes of their enemies but now like Fowls which shed their feathers about their Nest they betray themselves by their own superfluity I have read of an Advocate of Rome that professed himself to be able to teach any man the Law to save his Lands from all question that he might be disquieted by no impleadment I do not value that cunning says Seneca but teach me to lose all I have and not to be moved with the misfortune and then I will pay you for my learning In like manner had Jonadab left a great volume of Precepts behind him how to teach his Kindred thrift and husbandry had he bequeathed to them the magisterium of the Philosophers Stone why all this labour had only made them worldly and avaritious But to institute a course and to put them in practise how to want and suffer scarcity as many as walk in that rule may have bodies that can live without this world as they have souls that can live without these bodies And so much for the three laudable inducements unto which Jonadab did respect when he made his Children vow a Vow unto the Lord. 1. It was expedient for strangers 2 It was a Cordial to comfort them in the Captivity of Babylon 3. It was an occasion both to withdraw the fuel which kindled the love of the world in their souls and it extinguished the envy of their Adversaries who were about to subdue their Country Now I follow my own method to handle the second consideration of this Vow that these circumstances were not only well foreseen but that the conditions of the thing vowed are just and lawful Not to tumble over all the distinctions of the Schoolmen which are as multiplicious in this cause as in any of Vows some are singular in uno individuo which concern one man and no more as when David vowed to build an house unto the Lord this was not a Vow of many associated in that pious work but of David only Some are publick when there is an unity of consent in divers persons to obtest the same thing before the presence of God And such was this Vow in my Text it concerned the whole Family of the Rechabites Again some Vows are private not in regard of the persons which may be numerous but in respect of the place some Vows are solemn when the protestation is made unto the Church So was not this Vow it was not solemn it was no Church matter To say that the Rechabites lived about the Temple and were a kind of Monks I know not what could be spoken more ignorantly by our Adversaries and yet it hath been written in defiance of our Religion None lived about the Temple but Priests and Levites except some great Prophetical Spirit was discerned in
this Text before you To treat upon a Text of multiplying and increase it may be it hath some influence upon the words of the speaker Or if not so yet it being a branch of a famous Story out of which our Church hath compiled three several Gospels observe your Common-prayer Book and you will find no less I say that which hath supplied us with three Gospels may easily afford us occasion of two Sermons It is so circumstanced with mysteries that as twelve Baskets did no more than contein that which was left of five loavs and two fishes so when I have spoken once and again upon this Theme the remainder which I must omit will be manifold more than I shall be able to deliver It came to pass at such an opportunity as in reason you may be confirmed that our Saviour meditated some great matter for setting all occurences in right order John the Baptist was newly beheaded and his bloud yet warm Matth. xiv It was as the Devil would have it the burning Light was put out the Forerunner cut off the mouth of the great Witness was stopt he that divulged Christs glory over all Judea Now his fame will be less bruited abroad than it was before not a whit for immediately as it were on purpose to supply the place of that mighty Prophet Christ amazeth the people with this Table that he spread in the Wilderness the rumour of it filled Jerusalem and all Judea so that Satan might say with Herod this is John the Baptist that is risen from the dead And it hapned to the greater glory of the Son of God that all parties were never so generally pleased with any wonder that he did In this Gospel of St. John he healed a man that had been infirm eight and thirty years It liked them not because it was done on the Sabbath day He told the Pharisees their secret sins they told him he was a Samaritan and had a Devil He gave eyes to one that was born blind but who durst confess it for he that did was sure to be excommunicated He raised Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days This made the High-Priests broil with anger that they concluded in their Council it was expedient to put him to death Onely this Miracle was taken with the right hand and for ought appears escaped all malignancy and sinister interpretation If it sped so well with them that observed no more from it but that they did eat and were filled I speak it upon good authority the Lord rebukes them for it in this Chapter ver 27. That they laboured for the meat that perished and not for meat that endured to everlasting life If these had such liking to it how much more considerable is it to us who may collect the highest mysteries of Religion out of these lowly figures First you may discern in this the communicableness of charity which passeth the good things of fortune from hand to hand to those that need as these barley loaves were derived from the Fountain to the River and from the River to the smaller Brooks Secondly you may see no less than Christ and his Church knit together by fit junctures and sinews his influence moves in his Apostles the Apostles dispense his gifts unto the people which is the harmony that keeps all in tune in the house of God Nay thirdly here is the very Sacrament of the Sacrament As the bread in this Miracle was blessed from Christs lips and drew vertue from thence above its nature so in the Lords Supper the Word infuseth it self into the Element and it becomes a Sacrament These things without peradventure the Jews did not wot of but we have light enough to discry them from this Story He distributed to the Disciples c. I am constant to that partition of the whole verse which I delivered heretofore a preparation to a Miracle and the Miracle it self The preparation as I noted I dispatched it was bodily and ghostly bodily in assumpsit Jesus took the loaves ghostly in gratias egit or benedixit he gave thanks The Miracle consists plainly of these three Members Here is the distribution which is Christs act He distributed to the Disciples 2. The subdistribution that was the Disciples Office They distributed to them that were set down 3. Here is the reception that did belong to the People They did all eat and were filled they had as much as they would Distinctly upon these three in their order There is but one giver in the Text the rest that are mentioned are all borrowers to him therefore as to the Patron of the Miracle give we the precedency in this Narration He distributed That Pronoun and Verb together make a rich conjunction and yield such an ample Revenue as the whole earth cannot receive For all the wealth of this World and our Portion of glory in the Text is lodged in the room of these few syllables He distributed But to lay hold of it with the right hand and as it belongs to the matter which is before me I consider it as it conducts us to the two regent Attributes of the Divine nature Power and goodness or in terms as easie to be remembred as a Miracle or as a Benefit First as a Miracle If the Son of God had communicated all that was before him and no more as far as it would reach the Company that was with him had barely seen his courtesie but since it pleased him to increase the loaves more than a thousand fold above their natural quantity it was an argument of his Majesty and Omnipotency Mighty things are those which thou hast done O Lord and who is like unto thee What a memorable Feast was here set forth out of an handful of meat Was ever hunger conquered with such small provision Were ever five thousand persons tabled at so cheap a rate nothing was made ready and yet nothing wanted no Ovens were heated yet they had their fill of bread without scarcity no nets were cast to drag the Seas yet fish abounded with them to their utmost satiety In brief a Child did keep and carry all the food that was among them and yet here was an open House for all comers Julian that great Apostate studied Magick and all secret unlawful Arts under that great Sorcerer Jamblichus the Philosopher His desires were to make the Scriptures and in them the Miracles of our Saviour suspected or despicable Well when he and his infernal Partners had tried all their cunning what could they produce correspondent to this unquestionable increase of five loaves and two fishes why it was too manifest to be impeached and too great to be imitated Cast seeds of corn into the ground and we look for an augmentation but with many conditions and after much leisure First the bosom of the earth after it is well manured must take it the dews and rain must liquor it the Sun must cherish it the seasons
rather thus If we live as wicked men do we are scarce men but rather beasts and they that are scarce men by reason of their sins they are utterly lost I am sure for being Christians O if you have not Christ within you let your forehead blush that was sealed wâ—th his Cross without you How much better would it be for Hypocrites that they had been Pagans that never abused this Name than to have been outside Disciples no further than the name dealbati nomine Christiano says St. Austin not anointed with the oil of Christ the unction of the Spirit but parjeted over with the name of Christian like whited walls The Athenians forbad that any Bondman should be called by the name of Harmodius and Aristogeiton men that had jeoparded their lives to free their Country from servitude they held it dishonorable that those names that were devoted to the publick liberty should be polluted with servile contagion Domitian who was tyrannical in all his actions put one Metius a man of good condition to death for calling an inferior Vassal of his by the victorious name of Hannibal The Title of Philosopher O how the true Philosophers would storm when Caterpillars usurped it that had no affinity with true Philosophy it is a sickness and a very fever to me says one of them quod istiusmodi spurca animalia nomen usurpent sanctissimum that these unclean animals should steal such a sacred appellation If these men were so tender to preserve Civil and Academical honors from defamation will not God be much more incensed at pseudo-Christians and say why dost thou take the name of my well-beloved Son upon thee to pollute it Quid est dignitas in indigno nisi ornamentum in luctu says Salvian this glory with which you invest your selves shall be your utter shame you blot this Name with whoredoms and oppressions here therefore shall your names be blotted out of the book of life My invention will not serve me to conclude this point better than St. Austin hath done Vt nomen Christianum non ad judicium sed ad remedium habeamus convertamus nos ad bona opera that we may assume this name as a soveraign remedy against the Devil and not unto condemnation let us bring forth works worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ for whose sake we are called Christians And thou Antioch in the Land of Syria art not the least among those places that were holy ground thou wert like a new Hierusalem to us that are called Gentiles for in thee the sound was first heard which filled the earth with thy Majesty And the Disciples were called Christians first in Antioch A place not long after the first foundation of it bruited abroad for much infelicity so frequently was it shattered with strong Earthquakes a place polluted with no small Idolatry for Apollo had his Shrine and Diana had hers within the Circuit of it Of a sudden when she was scandalous and forlorn those evils and calamities were redrest because God had a delight in a new Off-spring which was grown up within her walls and all the Inhabitants of the Earth did look upon her as a Star that was shot from Heaven Now began all the honors that the times would permit to be heaped upon it Some say that this being the best City wherein the Gospel had got ground St. Peter the chief Apostle was made the Bishop of it To make no brable of it lest I go beyond the allowance of my time this is all I will say if St. Peter were the Bishop of it then Ignatius was but a bad remembrancer that wrote so many Epistles and never spake of it then St. Chrysostom likewise who was a famous Pulpit-man in that City and made the best Sermons in Antioch that ever he made he were much overseen that he should never call it to mind in so many commemorations which he made concerning their dignity This is surely upon Record St. Peter afforded it his blessed presence and so did St. Paul his likewise a brave building of faith was erected there when the Covering was laid upon two such Pillars And a Bishoprick was founded there by those two great Apostles whose succession was happy in painful Prelates and constant Martyrs all Syria was subject to it as the Metropolis the Arabick Canons which Turrian hath set forth as constituted by the great Council of Nice say that all the Churches in Persia obeyed it as a Patriarchical See Justinian the Emperor because we had our best name imposed there gave it a better name and called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is being interpreted the City of God You may be sure their brave Presbyter St. Chrysostom hath often run over this string and made musick upon it In one place thus If any contention for priority ariseth you Antiochians may claim it before all the World illo scilicet privilegio vobis blandientes bearing up your selves upon that privilege that you were the first fruits of them that are called Christians this is your victory over your enemies this is your Diadem above your friends What a pudder some would have made of it if they could have boasted of this Prerogative O how the chief Pontif of Rome would have been hoisted up for an Oecumeniacal Bishop And out of the word Christian what a flourish Cardinal Bellarmin would have made for an Antichristian Supremacy God hath provided better things for us than that we should not be pelted with such a paper Bullet The Antiochians behaved themselves reverently and modestly and did not abuse the Grace of God unto wantonness They were not called Christianissimi more Christian than their Brethren for this verbal priority They did not arrogate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief Patriarchical Primacy before all other Prelates but were contented with the third rank to follow rome and Alexandria And in my slender opinion Baronius is never more to be commended in any thing than for rendring the true reason 〈◊〉 Says he in giving honorable place to the Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch regard was had to follow the steps of the Roman Magistrate and to settle Ecclesiastical Precedency just as he did distribute his principal Civil Dignities Now among all the Oriental Praefectures the Proconsul of Antioch was the most chief and honorable hence Antioch was established to be the Oriental Metropolis But because the temporal glory of Alexandria was greater and the chief Roman Praefecture of all others called Augustalis praefectura therefore though it was the younger Church in order of time yet her Patriarch preceded Antioch in order of dignity And if he had not wilfully shut his eyes against the light would he not have subscribed that this was the very cause that the Praelacy of Rome was preposed before them both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom we yield it priority because it is the chief Imperial City or in Baronius his own
trials of obedience Yet though their number was so great and cumbersom their weight had been more easie if they had been plain and perspicuous but the people underwent much geare and I think not one among an hundred did know the signification The substance of Religion was so darkly involved in the Types that happy was that Prophet or Prophets Son that could crack the shel to eat the kernel Who of the Vulgar rank could penetrate into the moral signification of those vices which were forbidden in the unclean Creatures Vt homines mundarentur pecora culpatu sunt says Tertullian The Law did seem to loath some beasts that we might know what God did love Was not the Salvation in Christ propounded to them in Signes And his death resembled in a Bullock slain at the Altar And what small comfort was there in that Pardon which was not intelligible to the poor Offendor Luther says well upon my Text that mans knowledge is unshackled it is at liberty when he discerns the naked truth in it self Cognitio est ancilla quando subjecta est velaminibus figurarum Our Wisdom is made a bondwoman subject to the captivity of Ignorance when it sees nothing but in the dark Glass of typical Obumbrations Thanks be to God that we are Scholars of the New Testament We are called to the manifestation of faith and love in Christ that we do not grope in darkness but walk in light for the Gospel is like a Glade which is cut through the grove of ancient Ceremonies Let me speak to this point once more Beside their excess in number and their cloudy obscurity there were unpleasing remembrances in them some that seemed to be mysteries of grace were likewise mystical Exprobrations and therefore referred by good Expositors to the hand-writing of Ordinances which is against us Col. ii 14. For Ceremonies take them not as Sacraments or Circumstances of Evangelical Service but as Yokes of the Law Nihil aliud erant quà m miseriae humanae publica professio They were imprints of humane misery not Expiations but Confessions of our iniquity Circumcision it accused the Israelites that they were born in sin Their frequent washings did testifie that there was filthiness in the Object The life of the Sacrifice spilt upon the ground pronounced him guilty of death that brought it to the Lord. I go no further because I would be compendious and I have said enough for this discovery that the Law of Ordinances was our Adversary But thanks be to that Saviour who blotted out the hand-writing payed the grand debt which we did owe and discharged the interest likewise when he evacuated the Levitical Ceremonies which is the first mark of the freedom of Jerusalem Yet be advised that we do not claim more immunity by this Chatter than is granted for that is ordinary to stretch out the name of liberty like cheveril Leather to what length we please some have assumed that they have good ground to blow up all our Modern Ceremonies with this Mine because Jerusalem is free from the yoke of Ordinances It is true our Jerusalem is free and therefore we are free for partus sequitur ventrem the Church appoints her own Orders of decency now and is not appointed nothing is imposed upon it with bond of necessary and perpetual observation the principality is upon her shoulders to make her Children submit to her prudent Constitutions But if particular men might challenge interest in this freedom as if they had scope to serve God with what order and comliness they pleased this were an uproar and not a freedom and a looseness like that of mad men when they have broke their Chains Certainly the liberty which God hath granted in setting our feet at large from these things with which the Priesthood of Aaron was charged it was to accommodate us with great grace and favour but if this should repel the bringing in of those Ceremonies which are means to beget the greater veneration of Religion the bounty of God which cannot be would turn to a prejudice his blessing to a cross and such as love the welfare of Sion might cry out O Lord we are oppressed with liberty Touching the substance of divine Worship it is written with Gods own finger in holy Scripture we must not add unto it Only God is pleased to try our judgment how we will administer it in the particular fashion His Worship is the Bread of Life sent down from heaven and not invented upon earth but for the manner of his Worship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Clemens says of humane Philosophy it is like the sauce in which the bread is dipt to make it savoury to this conditement Jerusalem is allowed to put her skil providing for comliness and honesty as a wise dispenser of the mysteries of God Was ever any thing of moment transacted without some graceful solemnity Or is man so governed by the Spirit that he can lift himself up to Heaven sufficiently by interiour Meditation I forget not that some will say yea the Body also serveth God by the tongue And I allow it for an excellent way to warm our zeal with the loud voice of prayer But this warmth will quickly cool unless some devout actions concur together and deeds are far more durable in the fancy than the memory of speech either to teach the understanding somewhat which it ought to consider or to move the heart to due reverence and regard which it ought to have in the performance of sacred matters Here let the new Jerusalem act her part this is her liberty to enjoyn such Ceremonies for the eye as may prepare the heart the better to feel the power of the grace of God and to prescribe such visible signs as will leave a deeper print behind them than bare exhortation I will add that by this power bequeathed to the Church some Jewish Ceremonies may be reteined as far as the state of the things will bear if they be followed only for outward order and not returning to that obstinately which must be disannulled because Christ is come in the flesh I confess that Spiritual Worship is best for it is most correspondent to his nature whom we worship God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit This is the reason that he says he hates Incense and effusion of bloud at his Altar such kind of service hath no assimilation with him who is incorporeal give him the Sacrifices of righteousness of prayers and mercy and thanksgiving qui corpus non est umbram non habet Approach not to him with shadows for he is a Spirit and not a Body yet in respect of us though not of himself he entertains the lowliness of bodily Worship as it hath a conveniency and conjunction with our nature The Lord is a Spirit and he even he alone gives law how he will be worshipped in spirit but we that worship him are bodily creatures and
denial but that they have brought the Point to the true Touchstone I quoated somewhat out of St. Ambrose before that the bodies of some who gave up their life for the Faith were interred in the Church under the Lords Table which with reference to the representation of the Sacrifice of Christ Crucified is figuratively called an Altar St. Austin confirms it There let their dead corpses be interred where the death of our Lord is continually celebrated And in later years when they studied for increase of Ceremonies every principal Church under the Pontifician command hath a Vault under the Altar where the supposed Reliques of the Martyrs or the Reliques of supposed Martyrs are reserved Out of these Ritual Forms the Jesuits interpret St. John that he saw the Souls of them that were slain for the word whose bodies lay encombed under the Altar and whose Reliques were kept there in custody They had need of a long Figure to bring these ends together Neither shall they ever perswade me that St. John bends his aim at a Custom of Sepulture which began above two hundred years after he wrote his Prophesie No toleration can be found for the burial of the Martyrs in those holy places till the Pacificous Reign of Constantine the Great And how did the Church understand this Scripture in the mean time A Modern Writer of our own handles it much more learnedly to the same relation He notes it very acutely that the Theater wherein St. John saw all his Visions hath a resemblance in every part to the Camp of Israel and to the Tabernacle of Moses in the Wilderness it is enough to have named it Now the Apostle being acquainted by the Spirit what innumerous Troops of Martyrs should be slaughtered he saw as it were the Altar of burnt-offerings belonging to the Tabernacle and the Saints that were sacrificed to God were under it not as ashes are underneath that fall through a grate but they lay like beasts newly slain at the foot of the Altar that is sprauling upon the ground before the Altar The Soul then is taken by Synechdoche here for the whole man or according to the usual style of Scripture for the body of the man The conjecture I think may pass for probable and judicious There is but one thing to disparage it it is but one mans conjecture But if you will hear that which hath judgment to commend it and multitude of Authors it is likely to be found among them that in the third place refer this figuratively to the condition of their Spirits Yet I mean not him that says the Ark and the Covering thereof did represent Gods Mercy Seat but the Altar did represent his Justice for it was the place of fire and bloudshed and that these souls were under the Altar that is under the Justice of God to be avenged of their Adversaries It is nothing so for as it appears by them that fled unto it for refuge the Altar was a place of Propitiation The Altar here by the greatest number of votes is He that mitigates the stern Justice of his Father Jesus Christus Agnus propter mactationem Altare propter propitiationem He is all by whatsoever we are reconciled to God the Altar the Priest and the Sacrifice St. Gregory proves it that the Altars of the Levitical Service were express Types of him for either they were to be made of rude earth Temeraria de sespite altaria in Tertullians words or of rough and unpolisht stones Exod. xx Wherefore of earth but to betoken the Incarnation of our Lord Quicquid offerimus Deo in altari terreo i. e. in fide Dominicae incarnationis solidamus Whatsoever we bring unto God lay it upon the earthen Altar upon this faith that Christ was incarnate to save his people from their sins When the Altar was made of stone it was rough and unpolisht and in those materials likewise we shall meet with Christ For he was the Living Stone in Daniel cut out of the Mountain without hands neither was he polisht by Art by Education or by any thing that man can put into him as he came from the Quarry from the Womb of his Mother he was full of Grace and Truth This standing is firm that the term of Altar agrees well with our Saviour many reasons may be easily rendred why the souls of the Blessed were under the Altar 1. Says Estius a little too slightly They have not yet attained to be like the glorious body of Christ they have not resumed their Carkasses as He is risen from the dead they are yet below His dignity and so under the Altar 2. The Just that died in the Lord in the Old Law are said to be in Abrahams bosom because they professed the Faith of Abraham so they that died in the Faith of the Gospel that Christ is the Altar upon whom all our works that please God are to be offered up their Souls are under that Altar 3. As Lazarus the poor man full of Piety is said to be in Abrahams bosom as if he were placed in heaven next to Abraham so the godly Martyrs are next to the Altar for dignity of glorification next to Christ himself and wheresoever the Carkass is thither will the Eagles be gathered together Luk. xvii Lastly Which takes me most the persecuted Saints had no shelter on earth to defend them now their souls are at rest disquieted with no fear under the protection and custody of Christ Under him we are in safety upon earth and no man can take his sheep out of his hand and under his Wings we shall be safe in Heaven for ever yea and though we have the faith of Martyrs to spend our life for the love of God yet our hope is not in ourselves but to be covered with the Altar to run to Christ as to our Shield and Buckler without his Merits to assoil us from our sins Martyrs cannot appear before the face of God O prepare your selves to come unto this holy Sanctuary He that comes with an hypocritical Conscience to partake of the Altar of the Lords Table he shall find no place for his Soul under that Altar which is above And take heed of high imaginations and exalted thoughts Our state in Heaven is subter and not super And all subters in this World are not worth a good mans thought to reflect upon them Let me be an underling let me be abased let me go down to the lowest Room let my Spirit aim at nothing but to be Templum sub altari the Temple of God here that hereafter I may rest under the Altar in life everlasting AMEN A SERMON UPON REVEL vi 10. And they cried with a loud voice saying How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the Earth NOthing may seem more out of order than these words are at the first reading but their true scope is to put that in
a tree Yet Christ avoided to be slain among the Infants of Bethlem he would not be cast down the steep Mountain in Galilee nor be stoned by the Pharisees but to expiate the first sin by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree he was exalted on a tree like the Serpent in the wilderness And there is somewhat of observation in it that he suffered in an elevation between heaven and earth to purge the Region of the Air from the infestation of the Devil Who was Damnatus ad acrem tanquam ad carcerem says St. Austin thrown out of heaven to remain in the air as in a prison and therefore called by St. Paul The Prince of the power of the air Eph. ii 2. Nay Hesiod the Heathen Poet came to this knowledge by what tradition I know not that wicked spirits enemies to mankind were diffused over that Element Therefore Jesus dying upon the Cross gave up the Ghost in the air that he might cleanse the air from those flying Serpents that is from Diabolical infestations says St. Athanasius Secondly He was mounted upon his Cross as a Conquerour over that which was trodden down and trampled under feet wherein he seemed to be condemned he condemned the world wherein he took infirmity upon him he shewed invincible fortitude wherein he suffered death he overcame the power of Death From that fatal Tree which the Jews prepared for an indelible ignominy Potentia redemptoris secit gradum ad gloriam says Leo The puissance of the Redeemer made it a degree unto glory The Devil stirred up all sorts of men against him his Disciples to deny him the Jews to accuse him the Souldiers to crucifie him the Passengers to blaspheme him The more opposition the greater was the triumph For the Psalmist makes it a Song of Jubilee They came about me like bees and are extinct as the fire among the thorns Let me give it a simile from another feast coincident this year upon the day of the Passion The Patron entitled to the noble Order of the Garter sits victoriously on horse-back and the Dragon is beaten under his feet and cast upon his back So our Champion rides in triumph upon the Cross and his enemy fell before him For Christ was visibly crucified but the Devil invisibly says Origen When our Saviour was transfigured and appeared in glory then Moses and Elias spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem Luk. ix 31. As if there were no fitter time to speak of his death than in that clarification because his death was the purchase of glory in that abasement he was exalted and did exalt us that believe in him in that machine and craned us up by his Cross to heaven And therefore he promised unto the penitent Thief when he was upon the Cross the joyes of Paradise because his Cross did open Paradise to all believers Two things are notorious marks that this kind of death so vile in appearance was a constructive exaltation First that the imperial Ensign of the Roman Army in the days of Constantine the Great was cast into the figure of a Cross known in ancient Authors by that obsolete word laborum it was a victorious auspice to have the flag of the Cross which was never overcome to fly before them Then it came to be extolled even to the top of the Crown of Kings A locis suppliciorum fecit transitum ad coronas Imperatorum says St. Austin Once it was infamous for a sign of a servile death now it is translated as it were from Golgotha unto the Crowns of Emperours Fructus arborem exaltat jam honor est non horror The fruit that hung upon the tree hath taken away all ignominy from the tree now the horror of it is changed into a Trophee of honour As the Serpent was lifted up so there was power and exaltation and victory in the sacrifice of our Saviour Thirdly As the Son of God was conquerant in death so he was glorified after death He humbled himself to death even to the death of the Cross wherefore God hath highly exalted him By his Cross and Passion he hath entred into heaven there to sit at the right hand of the Majesty for ever Now he is exalted in his Resurrection death hath no more dominion over him now his name is blessed and hallowed as the balm from which our salvation distilleth now his Kingdom is enlarged from Sea to Sea and the uttermost parts of the earth are his possession Now his people are gathered unto him to magnifie and praise him all Kings shall fall down before him all Nations shall do him service These are the success and the consequents of his humiliation Therefore as you would not envy his greatness in his Resurrection so do not despise the meanness of his Passion Non te pigeat videre serpentem in ligno pendentem si vis videre regem in solio regnantem says St. Austin be not troubled to see him lifted up upon a Pole like the brazen Serpent if you desire to see him sit upon his Throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords Ought not Christ to suffer these things and so to enter into his glory And let this confirm our faith and make us willing to be conformable to his sufferings The afflictive way nay the destructive way of persecution is the advancement of a Christian to be pluckt down is to be lifted up Through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God Acts xiv 22. As some did swim to shore upon planks in that shipwrack wherein St. Paul was a companion Acts xxvii so being all of us in the common naufrage of sin none are more safe than they that swim out upon the Cross which God hath laid upon them If we must bid farewel to temporal prosperity let us see what Pearls of patience and repentance we can find as Job did in the dunghil of sorrow and misery If Tempests blow stronger and stronger let us strive with Elias to go up to heaven in the whirlwind what we want in the Church Militant continue stedfast in the truth and it will be supplied in the Church Triumphant But in what estate soever you are be lifted up from the earth and let your affections be above Let not Satan get the upper ground and make advantage of it against us beneath Is he in the air Then shall my heart be in heaven Is he upon an exceeding high mountain in his tentations Then will I fly up to the Sanctuary of the Lord upon the wings of a Dove For the Mountain of the Lords house is established in the top of the mountains Isa ii 2. Would he have me look upon the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them No I will look upon him who despised glory and hath purchased honour by his opprobry upon him who was lifted up like the Serpent in the wilderness Draw near now and come unto that place where this
being caught up into the clouds to live with God for ever Their judgment is right that he was disarrayed of all malignant qualities sin and mortality which belong to the soul or body But I wonder they should call these by the name of death for it was no otherwise with Enoch than it shall be with all men and women whom Christ shall find upon earth at his second coming St. Paul says they shall not die but they shall be changed that changing is no death for change and death are membra dividentia in the Apostle and cannot be confounded Now I have brought you out of all incumbrances of wrong opinions to the clear truth Enoch was not How He ceased not absolutely to live but he ceased to live any longer in a corruptible Tabernacle he prevailed above the sentence which was pronounced against Adam by the Judge of quick and dead Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return Mortality came from disobedience against the Commandment neither is it possible for any mere man to attain to such a measure of obedience as to deserve immortality do not imagine this holy Saint was without sin so that death could claim no dominion over him St. Chrysostome who speaks much for Enoch how the Lord rewarded his integrity with incorruption says no more but that he received Gods Law not that he kept it inviolably 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God kept him alive that received the Commandment that received it willingly and with an earnest heart to keep it But how was that Statute dispensed with you will say it is appointed to men once to die and after that comes judgment Heb. ix 27. An easie dispensation will serve for that for it was no otherwise with this man than it shall be with all the earth at the last day when the Inhabitants of the world shall not be uncloathed of skin and bone but be changed into an incorruptible perfection in the twinkling of an eye But that you may not wonder at Enochs case as if justice had connived and forgot it self remember this rule in St. James There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy Jam. iv 12. Mark that there are Judges constituted under the Law and it is not in them to save life where the Letter of the Law condemns for the Law governs them and not they the Law but there is a regent and principal authority whose clemency is above the Law That speech of Senecaes is as trivial as any Proverb Occidere contra legem nemo non potest servare nemo praeter te Every Varlet can kill a Citizen against the Law none but the Supreme Magistrate can save a Citizen against the Law You see then by what rectitude of justice Enoch might be exempted from death albeit we were all sentenced to become dust and clay out of which we were made because God is the most supreme independent Judge of all the world and may mitigate the severity of his own decrees Why should not his mercy preserve where it will And if he will preserve who can destroy Is there any curse but he can turn it into a blessing Where the Lord pleaseth to sweeten a bitter cup Poverty shall not be grievous nor ignominy dishonourable nor sickness painful nor life mortal A thousand fell before this Patriarch and ten thousand at his right hand but he was impassible and did not die He was not for the Lord took him Because the Septuagint Translators concur with St. Paul in one reading it is due to my Text to let it be known how they have enlarged this concise phrase And he was not in their words is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was not found And Clemens the Scholar of St. Peter and Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was not found that he ever died He appeared not and yet the Lord killed him not so the Chaldee Paraphrase For as St. Jerom said figuratively of the sweet end that Nepotian made that he did Migrare non mori And St. Bernard as much of Hubertus that he did Abire non obire Those pious men might rather be said to have gone a journey out of the way than have died so very properly and without a Metaphor it was true of Enoch that he did not die but was retired out of the way where he could not be found It seems he was much sought for as certainly good men will quickly be missed Antigonum refodio as the honest mans saying was he would have scrap'd the just King Antigonus out of his Grave when he was departed Though Elias was manifestly taken away into heaven yet the Sons of the Prophets besought Elisha that fifty strong men might go seek him lest the Spirit of the Lord had cast him upon some Mountain or into some Valley I could not blame them to wish they might find him again So says one upon that inquisition was made for Elias Enochus cum raperetur fortasse diu inquisitus fuit It may be Enoch was much inquired for in many places after God had took him Selneccerus says that the Lord exalted him up into the clouds Coram totâ Ecclesiâ praecipuis Patriarchis a great Congregation of men and the chief Patriarchs looking upon it Bolducus the Capuchin more particularly yet both altogether uncertainly using their own divinations Tulit eum Deus in nube in quâ apparebat ministranti God took him away in a cloud wherein he appeared as Enoch ministred unto him in the time of Sacrifice If this were done before a throng of Witnesses they might think it no more than a rapture for a little time as Paul was taken up into the third heavens for a small space and afterward restored to the Church They might search and hope to enjoy him again but he was not found the more was their loss that they wanted him the more was his happiness that he was quite gone and wanted nothing But Luther is of opinion that he was retired alone to walk with God in Prayer and sweet Meditations and then the Lord lifted him away to the habitations of the blessed when none were privy to it Seth and all the other Fathers of the Church knew not what was become of him his Son Methasalem and his Family look'd for him with sad hearts as Joseph and Mary sought for Jesus sorrowing no doubt they suspected the malice of the Caiâ—ites they thought he was slain like innocent Abel and privily buried Perhaps it was not revealed in a long time after what was become of him But as the Romans were highly discontented with the loss of Romulus their Founder and would not be satisfied till Proculus swore he saw him carried away into Heaven So when the Patriarchs had sate down sorrowing because they found not the very Gem of the Church the righteous man Enoch it made their gladness the greater when they knew the Lord had translated him alive into Paradise Now I proceed The benefit of it
Heathen described justice in their Idol Jupiter it was Aquila cum fulmine an Eagles eye to discern a fault a Thunderbolt to strike a Malefactor and the way thereof is as the way of an Eagle in the air when at the highest pitch we cannot see him Wherefore address we attentions to hear the cause how that man perished c. I have seen malum sub sole says Solomon evil under the Sun He might well tell it for a wonder that such a difference should light together The Sun builds up nature like a Giant Psal xix and evil pulls it down as fast like a Monster It was the vision of Moses at Mount Horeb Exod. iii. a flame of fire in a bramble bush and he that will look like a Prophet shall see there is nothing among us but Flamma splendoris divini or spina peccati I renounce the Manichees I make not two main causes good and evil but I say every thing shews the brightness of Gods glory shining in his works or the thorns and briars of sin in the defacing thereof such thorns were the sinful Jebusites I would the world were as free from it as the Song of Solomon wherein the name is not once to be read lest it should breed a discord in the tunes of love There must be sin there must be heresies but sin what art thou Alas that every man can sooner sin than tell what it is When we talk of it then it grows upon us when we forget it it encreaseth more when we hate it then we sin because we do not hate it as we ought but call it in one word as St. John doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the breach of Gods Law and you have said enough Me thinks Moses made the definition when spying the trespass the Calf they worshipped in Horeb He cast the Tables from him as who should say the Law is broken Only here is the difference the Tables were crackt in few pieces perhaps but the Law hath been ground like the Idol into powder so that a remnant is not kept whole in man St. Paul Rom. iii. reduceth sin into every part of us both soul and body as unto certain common places or you may call it the Geography of wickedness There is none that understandeth thus our reason is ignorant none that seeketh after God our will is disobedient If the Leaven be so bad what hope remains in the lump Our tongues have used deceit and the kisses of our lips envenom like the Asp Our feet are not lazy but swift to shed bloud Our eyes not dim but wanting before them the vail of reverence There is no fear of God before our eyes Our throat not cramm'd up or strangled but wide as an open Sepulchre Was Goliah more furnisht to do evil with that tomb of brass upon his body Was Esau more rough and hairy from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot Or that Hermogenes whom the Wits of Greece plaid upon that the Rasor knew not where to begin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for all his body was but one lock As we bring bloudy bodies into the world Tabe polluti occisis magis quà m natis similes says Plutarch so we bring a most wretched soul That as Marius could shew no honourable Pedigree for a Consulship to the Senate but thirty six wounds in his Breast so we cannot shew the glory of our immortal and heavenly created soul her Pedigree from God by reason of the wounds which stick fast upon it Aristotle said our soul was like a fair skin of Parchment wherein nothing was written O that it had been so they are rather like Ezekiels book within and without written with woes and lamentations or as Plato speaks of Dionysius his soul that it was scribled all over with evil Characters What an enditement may be made of this cause then when iniquity is a blemish all over as the whole bird was dipt in bloud Lev. xiv which was an Emblem of our pollution No words can sufficiently describe it but as one speaks of the Spanish Tyranny over the Indies the best Rhetorick was to besmear a bloudy leaf to express it Sin in its Essence is confederate with death and punishment It is the obedience of dumb creatures to chastise it The Earth waxed evil in bringing forth Plants and fruits when the choicest mold of it did fail in Adam it would not be so fruitful for a Sinner as for an Innocent The Prophetess Deborah knew so much Astrology that the Stars in their course fought against the Tyrant Sifera Et navicula Petri in quâ erat Judas turbabatur says St. Ambrose the Sea stormed at Peters Ship when Judas was in it but these are senseless scourges and God applies them What need I speak of Phinehas his righteous passion that killed the Princely Adulterer If the Angels might have their will no Tares should stand in the field they would root up every thing that had not the blade of Wheat But these are all heavenly Souldiers and holiness provokes them Well let the Devil be the judge and he delights both to accuse and punish Put it to evil men and they think Naboth should die for cursing God and the King The vilest persons for the most part are the Satyrs of the time and tax all the world like Angustus Nay put it to the sinner himself put it to Cain and Judas they find no favour no mitigation I dare say in the Court of their own conscience Prima est haec ultio quod se Judice nemo nocens absolvitur Let me lead you on with this distinction betwixt in and propter to perish in iniquity and for iniquity Sin is not always the propter the moving cause of Gods chastisements but sometimes the triall of an heroick faith so it was in Job Sometimes the confirmation of grace so it was in St. Paul the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him that Gods grace might be sufficient for him But in iniquitate is certain truth the wrath of God lights not but where transgressions have gone before Thus the Disciples were at a loss Joh. ix Did this man sin that he was born blind How was that possible in his Mothers Womb But was the sin of his Father or the guilt of his Mother imputed to him The imperfect fruit of the Womb could do no evil the offence of his Parents must not be thought his evil Rabbi quis peccavit Nec ille nec parentes says our Saviour neither for his nor his Parents sins was he born blind but that the works of God might be made manifest in him That was the cause and yet a mote had not troubled the eye of this blind man but that a beam of sin had possessed it before in his Mothers Womb I mean by original corruption Alas that we should be grown big enough for punishment before we are born to nature Sabores being but a breeding at the death of his
Father Vasarenes as Agathias reports the Soothsayers foretold that his Mother should bring forth a Male child and he was crowned in her Womb his honour began the soonest I ever read of any and his guiltiness of sin and obligement to Gods wrath began as soon as the soul did inform the body If ever there were a Paradox in the world which Turks and Infidels hitherto have shamed to maintain it is the contrary to this doctrine that some iniquity is not the cause of perishing before the wrath of God Peribit in iniquitate it was ever good Divinity before Mariana and some Jesuits have perswaded desperate cast-aways to be saved by iniquity Saved did they say And for working abomination O are not the tender mercies of the wicked cruel St. Paul comforted our Mothers in their travel that the woman should be saved by bearing Children into the world they teach Reprobates to purchase a Saintship by murdering such whom the world is not worthy of Slaughter and bloudshed says our Philosopher Rhet. 1. lib. are not fit to make a question for discourse because it was never disputed by some either to be lawful or tolerable Nay in the second Eth. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing can make Murder a good action much less Treason But this was the pity of a Philosopher and Alexanders Courtier not the stomach of a Jesuit and a grand Inquisitor If all the Saints should appear before God with the Instruments of their Piety Moses with the two Tables Aaron with his Rod David with his Psaltery Dorcas with the Garments of her Charity would you look for a Priest among them girded with a bloudy knife Or a Villain provided with fire and Gunpowder Who would look for it Except as when the Sons of God stood before the Lord Job i and Satan also was among them Nay heaven and earth shall pass away before Peribit in iniquitate become Apocryphal before the Wormwood of sin become the Palm of immortality Thus much for the cause in general but what offence his iniquity did give the sin of Achan will ask a peculiar and a larger trial You are deceived if you think it was but Larceny or greedy pilfering if a Thief steal he shall restore fourfold says the Law or seven fold says Solomon when stealing grew worse and worse that was the most of it But God saw more pernicious faults in Achan for his justice is not fidelis in minimo sharpest against small offences like the Popes Decretals which enjoyn a Priest forty days penance if he spill one drop of the Cup of the Lords Table and but seven days penance for Fornication But hainous was the fact of Achan first in scandal that an Israelite preserved so long in the Wilderness one that fought the Lords Battels and came always home with victory that he should be the first that trespassed among the Canaanites the heathen that would blaspheme the living God Secondly In disobedience that Joshuah his noble General made the head of all the Tribes by Gods appointment and Moses good liking and Eleazars Unction could not command to be obeyed Thirdly In faithless covetousness That since Manna did fall no more from heaven about their Tents the Lord did heed his people no longer every man must catch what come to his hands so Achan took the accursed c. Here is scandal to them that were without within themselves contempt of the Lord and his servant Joshuah in his own heart an inordinate desire to grow rich and sumptuous I do not make Achans fault the greater that Gods vengeance may be more plausible as St Austin spake of disgracing Cacus to honour Hercules the more Nisi nimis accusaretur Cacus parum Hercules laudaretur but remember my scope is all one with S. Pauls Interrogatories With whom was he grieved And to whom did he swear in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest If there be any delight in comparing sins as the Prophets use to dash the Idols of Jerusalem with the Idols of Samaria me thinks the first transgression of the Garden of Eden and the pleasant Land of Canaan almost another Eden are very semblable Eve walking in Paradise saw the fruits and her eye enticed her to take that which was forbidden and then she hid her self out of Gods sight So Achan treading upon the soil of Canaan saw a Babylonish Garment and his eye enticed him and he took it when it was forbidden and accursed and hid both the Garment and his sin from the sight of Joshuah But those are impudent crimes like the forehead of an Harlot that leave their memory to the evil world to be the first examples of transgressions cursed be that sin for it festers into scandal and unhappy shall be their end that fly from the Lord till they be left as a Beacon on the top of a Mountain and as an Ensign on a Hill says the Prophet Isaiah Many offences had never been committed or else brought forth by a worse Generation long after unless an evil Author had made the way known and easie for our corrupt nature therefore the first that gathered sticks and broke the Sabbath the Shilonites Son the first that cursed impious Gehazi the first that took sinful wages for the gift of God Ananias and Saphira the first dissemblers in the Primitive Church Achan the first Malefactor in the Land of Canaan these had their portion suddenly and drunk the Cup of Gods fury unto the dregs thereof I know not how fatal it is but since the small trenches of Rome were filled with too much bloud of Rhemus anon after they were digg'd massacres and persecutions have never departed from that unlucky building As the heavens are spread above us and seem to speak like the Statue of the King of Egypt In me quis intuens pius esto So the ground whereon we tread sometimes quakes and seems to be too holy to be defiled But if ever there were an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or incongruity of place to say unto sin exiforas this is no ground for sinners was it not the Land of Promise A small sin in Canaan was greater than a fornication in Egypt a trespass in Jerusalem is worse than an Idol in Samaria Had this deed been done in the Wilderness or in the paths of the Red Sea it had been more tolerable as one speaks of Pompeys obscure death in Egypt a thousand Leagues from Rome Procul hoc ut in orbe remoto abscondat fortuna nefas the offence had not been so notorious But the Angels themselves do wonder in a field of choice Wheat Vnde zizania Lord whence come Tares Will you resolve the Prophet Jeremy the same question He makes very strange fidelis civitas How is the faithful City become an Harlot To use the Lords own Sacrifice with the Sons of Eli for Riot and Extortion his own Supper for drunkenness with the bad Corinthians to employ the soyl of his own
together enough to purchase a good Fee-simple in Canaan if the Lord had not given him his Portion Men think themselves now adays past the Law and penalties of death when they have sinned so much that they are grown wealthy in iniquity because if need be they can buy the favour of the Judg and he that has Achan's wealth a Wedg of gold and two hundred Shekels of silver legit ut Clericus I warrant him he is a learned Clerk and deserves his pardon But this man when he began to say deliciare anima when he was furnished to live sumptuously then he is cut off that as Solomon says the remembrance of death may be bitter to that man who thought it pleasant to live This was St. Austins rule when he was old and had learnt the World Mundus ille periculosior est cum se illicit diligi quà m cum se cogit contemni I fear no hurt from the World when it goes against me and casts a froward look upon my fortunes but my danger is near at hand when it smiles and flatters me as if all were happy When St. Basil observed how carefully Kings and Princes gathered up Pearls into their Treasury 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the wise God to shew the contempt of them had put into Oister-shells and scattered about the Sea-shore as vile and unprofitable You do not well says he to make a Treasury of that which is so mutable in the Generation and will ebb and flow from you like the Sea which begot them Fortune never stood long upon a Pinacle summo stare loeo nescia The Sponges that swell with liquors are most likely to be pressed and emptied You do all remember how Cesar gloried in his Victory among the cowardly Asiatiques veni vidi vici he did but set his feet upon their Soil and looked them in the face and so dismaied and vanquished them 'T is no more than King David tells of himself Psal xxxvii Vidi veni non inveni vidi I saw the ungodly flourish like a green Bay-tree veni I passed by and sought him non inveni he was quite gone in the twinkling of an eye I could not find him Now recollect these three qualities of Achan who was more likely to prosper than a Souldier in the flower of his age a joyful man at his journies end in the Land of his peace a wealthy man in the plenty of his riches Take it to thought all you that have the World tied unto you with a threefold Cord of health and peace and prosperity which men dream as if it could not be broken for it broke like Tow among the sparks and iste periit c. But as Demades said when news was brought that King Philip was dead and there was no other talk among the people Peace says Demades if he be dead to day he will be dead to morrow and the next day following so I will end my discourse how Achan perished it is the way of all sinners and not much to be lamented But for an innocent to be cast away it deserves pity wherefore St. Hierom reads my Text thus utinam solus periisset it makes not much for Achans death but I would he had perished alone in his iniquity There is no word of wonder beside this in the Text and here we must stay a while as all the Hoste of Israel did when they found the dead Corps of Amasa bleeding what the Spirit of God means by this vengeance non solus that he perished not alone in his iniquity It is St. Austins rule Relevatio mali non fit per communionem cladis sed solatium charitatis To perish together with more than our selves is no comfort at all but more anxiety So it made the Scene of Achan's Tragedy full and very bitter to see 36 Israelites that drew swords for the same Victory to be slain about him On the right hand there is more misery nati cruentâ caede confecti jacent the Sons ask for bread and their Father gives them stones to stone them Two things stand before us to be observed as the Angel did in Balaams way first what Companions Achan had in his punishment and secondly how it will stand with Gods justice that every man should not perish single by himself for his own iniquity First his fellow Souldiers turn their backs and are cut down at the Siege of Ai a sort of men that I presume are prepared alwayes to die but seldom provided to die well men that engender great love together as I think David and Jonathan did at first by entring their bodies into the same dangers Wherefore St. Paul did express his love to Epaphroditus in that name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my fellow Souldier and so to Archippus my fellow Souldier In the Roman Discipline it was held so honourable to save another of the same company that he carried for his reward civicam coronam a Crown upon his head made of the grass of that earth whereupon he saved anothers life The infamy of Achan was as notorious on the other side that caused six and thirty to be slain of the Camp of Israel To see that bad things are sure to do us hurt and the best things are not sure to help us The Ark of God was sent into the Camp at Shilob Arca fortitudinis Domini the Ark of Gods strength Psal 132. and yet the Philistins prevailed and the Ark was taken but if one Achan come down into the Battail there is plain treachery in that mans conscience and his Wedg of gold shall fight more against Israel than all the swords of the men of Ai. Good qualities stick close to them which have them as Virtue and Learning and we cannot part or bequeath them to any man Gifts of fortune as Honours and Riches may be removed to others as you like it But it is a hard case our vices are sure to fall down upon the head of such only as are dearest to us Beloved is it so Was the hand of the Lord in the battel of Israel and doth God direct the Sword of Simeon as well as the books of Levi Those that spend their bodies so courageously for our peace deserve to have their souls well instructed Nulla fides pietasque viris qui castra frequentant I trust it is but a slander that Souldiers have small Religion where the Angel of God did draw his Sword at the threshing flore of Araunah the Jebusite David built an Altar So in every just quarrel it is the Lord himself and his anointed King that draws the Sword Wherefore do not defile the Camp with oaths and lust and drunkenness for the ground is fit for Davids Altar and the place is holy I have told you what it was to Achan to lose his fellow Souldiers yet the loss was not Achans so much as Joshuahs and he like a loving Prince did fall upon the ground and shewed much bitterness for the death
of his people You shall rather find Achan distracted in sorrow between the heaviness of his sins and the death of his children It was much that a Mother in the Maccabees could exhort seven Sons one after another to despise King Antiochus and to suffer death for the name of the Lord. It is much that Prudentius reports of a woman that carried her infant in her own arms to Martyrdom Nec tantum osculum impressit unum vale inquit ô dulcissime Nature can hardly stoop to part with those children unto God in a good cause but to lose a Son in the anger of God in the guiltiness of a trespass O my son Absolon c. then we are afraid least they be lost for ever Give me Children says Rachel or else I die and alas she was but a dead woman in the birth of Benjamin Elisha strived to be thankful to his good Hostess the Shunamite he would do any courtesie for her O says Gehazi give her children before any thing and then you please her The greatest cruelty that moved St. Ambrose against the Emperour Theodosius for the Massacre committed at Thessalonica was on this wise A Father came to redeem two Sons taken captive and appointed to be slain He was allowed but the life of one for his money take which he would His kind heart equally earning after both could not say this rather than him the elder before the younger and for want of speedy resolution both were made away before his face This says Sozomen cost the poor Father his wits for ever to think he might have saved one Son and did not No colours could paint the face of Agamemnon where his Daughter was to be offered for a Sacrifice Par nulla figura dolori As it was said to Tully when Antony perswaded him to burn his invective Orations Commentus est Antonius eripere quemadmodum vixeras Fie said his friends unto him die rather for Antony would strip you of that glory which will give you life for ever So all the Pedigree of Achan being erased out Eripuit Dominus quemadmodum viveret God took that from him wherein he might hope to survive this was not only to put out the right eye of the men of Jabesh Gilead but for a Jew to die without succession Christ being theirs after the flesh is to go down with sorrow to the grave where all things are forgotten Whatsoever else is tumbled into the fire before Achans face it was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it moved not his eyes to pity nor his ears to the cries of lamentation As his body was burnt wherein a soul so covetous did inhabit so his Tent was consumed with fire the habitation of so vile a body that Tent under which he was wont to sleep is cast over him the last time at his death where he must sleep for ever And as if every man were afraid to inherit Aurum Tolosanum his unlucky Gold it is made away for company Et pallium quod debuit cremari crematum est the Babylonish Garment which was appointed to be burnt in Jericho is now fired about his ears in the Valley of Achor Lastly The Cattel that should have laid down their lives honourably before the Altar under the Priests hand for a trespass offering even those innocent beasts are not suffered to live how many yellings were about his ears to resemble the very horrors of hell where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth A good man says Solomon is merciful to his beast as if the beasts fared the better for a good mans sake And jure Dominii the Lordship of man doth extend so far upon the Creatures that they are consortes paenae partakers of the punishment of evil men The Cattle of Egypt were slain with hail stones for the Egyptians Idolatry the beasts of Nineveh fasted for the Ninevites Luxury nay says the Prophet Jeremy the Herbs of the field wither and the Birds of the Air are consumed for the wickedness of them that dwell in the Land Dearly beloved the beasts are but Figures of God fierce indignation they are our brutish sins our cruelties more unnatural than the rage of beasts which God aims at it was not worth the praise to Achan that the beasts perished in his iniquity they will and must die with us Quicquid antea debebam nolle nunc non possum The only Sacrifice which God requires is to have them die before us And so I have done with every thing that partaked in the punishment of Achan I must now commit my self to a Problem of great perplexity how it stands with the righteousness of God that every man should not perish alone in proprio peccato in his own iniquity I am no Advocate against Gods Justice but against the ignorance of man Phaedon speaks thus to Socrates in Plato I pray you are you not displeased with these unrighteous Judges that have condemned you O not I says Socrates and if I were I would refer the case until I were dead and then meet Ajax and Palamedes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and would ask them how they could endure a wrongful judgment and so put up my injury A reverend opinion of a Heathen concerning the judgment of sinners how contented would this man have stood before any sentence of Gods Tribunal But to the purpose this shall be my method to follow the cause in hand First That it is self love to our own person which perswades us other men sin and we pay the ransom Secondly Heathen men and not Christians did first fill the world with that opinion Thirdly That the melancholy distinctions of some School Divines have abused the truth But lastly our Conclusion shall be that the hair of an innocent never fell to the earth but that every man dies propter peccatum suum for his own iniquity For the first Nature as it is good and perfect taught us to love our selves fond and corrupt nature taught us to love our selves too much Out of this vanity those excuses spring up which make us absolve our selves and bind others Let us tell our own tale and we will say our Fathers eat the sowre grape when we may be discovered with the bunches in our own hands Rather than confess our own complection we will bely the Heavens and say the Sun hath scorched us Delicta majorum immeritus lues Romane To pluck in immeritus no desert of ours we will lay the Child at their door that never begot it The very Pharisees thought themselves so holy and our Saviour so bad that for no fault of theirs but for his blasphemies the Romans would come and carry away their Nation Wherefore says Socrates it were well with some men instead of travelling Si a seipsis aberrarent if they could wander from themselves No man says Plutarch doth know his own blemishes because he doth always carry himself about A Painter brings his work to good perfection when he leaves it for a time