facile in our youth And hee that shall compare the severall advantages which age and youth have each of other in matters of Religion will finde perhaps that it is no paradox to maintain against the great Philosopher that Iunenis est magis idoneus auditor moralis and divinae Philosophiae too that a young Timothy is a fitter Auditor of a lecture of Divinity than an old Nicodemus Age I confesse to give it its due honour hath many prerogatives of youth Age is coole and temperate those hot pursuites of vain delights if grace restraine not wee see in time nature itselfe forbeares Age it is stayed and resolute good courses well begun it will hold on though the hand bee hardly drawne unto the plough yet the eye will not suddainely looke backe againe Age it is wise and experienc't and having made frequent triall of the fickle unconstancie of all things under the Sunne can now truely say of laughter Thou art madnesse and that all the glory of the world it is but vanity and vexation of spirit Lastly Age it is sickly and craz'd and daily draweth onward nearer to the grave we see the tongue no not of men and Angels to be so powerfull an Orator to proclaime unto us Dust thou art and to dust thou must returne as but one dumbe fit of a disease ALEXANDER whom in his health all the World could not perswade but that a GOD hee would needs be upon a wound receiv'd seeing the blood come could then humble his conceit jam sentio me mortalem and now I see saith he that I must dye so that the old man dayly seeing that death which may be neare unto the young man cannot be far off from him is the more easily perswaded to prepare himselfe for the more easie passage when it comes These indeed are great advantages of age and yet perhaps the young man hath farre greater For first Youth it is bashfull and modest and modesty saith the Philosopher if it be not a vertue it is vertues companion And thus much Christianitie also seemes to acknowledge when wee say of a man that is not yet past shame that surely he is not yet past Grace For shame oft-times it is the Guardian of Grace and many sins there are for the forbearāce wherof even the best Soules are sometime as much beholding to their modesty as to their Religion But age you know it is more bold and daring and therefore oft-times for want of vertues companion vertue her selfe proves wanting and the losse of shame becomes the ruine of Grace Againe Youth it is alwayes subject to controll hath a Father a Mother a Tutor a Master or if all these may fayle yet old age it selfe wee see if for no other cause yet because old it challengeth a kind of Fatherhood over all youth and if but old ELIES gentle reproofe Nay my Sonnes why doe you such things it leaves some impression in the Soule But age 't is uncontrolable Rebuke not an Elder it is the precept in the Text and ELIHU in IOB conversing with his Ancients though they gave him just cause of speech and reproofe too yet you see how long hee layes his hand upon his mouth before ever hee durst speake so that wee see oft-times the greater is the old mans libertie the greater also is his licence Againe youth it is more free and generous in all dealings of the world liveth nearest to the best law of nature Do as thou wouldst be done unto not so ready to defraud and yet more readie to restore But Age it is penurious and griping and now come in those cruell times of extortion and oppression Quocumque modo rem a man will transgresse even for a peece of bread Lastly and that which is the maine advantage youth it is like golde soft and pliable if soone bent soone set to rights againe but age it is like Iron sullen and stiffe Youth indeed it is more heady but tendermouth'd but age it is more headstrong if it flie out it will run its course the old mans Motto is like that of PILATE Quod scripsi scripsi Hee will have his will Sinnes of youth they are but ill dispositions but sinnes of age they are commonly ill habits Here the flesh turneth Traitor and rebelleth against the Spirit but there it turneth Tyrant and commandeth In the dayes of our youth GOD patiently standeth at the doore of our hearts and knocketh and when hee hath spoke once and twice though wee regard not hee will not yet presently leave us nor forsake us but when once thirty or forty yeares long he hath beene grieved with a rebellious and gaine-saying generation in the end his patience turneth to anger What could I have done which I have not done and so gives them over to a reprobate sence Thus then you see the young man also hath his advantages and indeed what ever precedence our age can chalenge of our youth it is then onely to be found when the old man ploughes with the young mans heckfer For then it is no wonder that the incomes of our age multiplying upon the stocke of our youth should make the fairer revenew but set the comparison right and then thus much I dare boldlie say that whereas in these dayes of ours whereof out of zeale I presume to make them better wee wrongfully complaine oft-times as if they never had beene worse many rare and vertuous young men are not perhaps so rare to bee found yet I thinke it is almost a miracle to see a very good old man who never began to bee good till hee was old If then vertue be so hard a taske as to excuse our vices wee are all too easilie perswaded to beleeve surely in all discretion wee are to make choyce of the fittest season to attaine it and that I have shewen you are the daies of our Youth For let sinne have but its course a while and if you will not beleeve me Saint AVGUSTINE shall tell you what will be the issue Ex voluntate perversa facta est libido Confess lib 8. cap. 5. dum servitur libi dini facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non resistitur factu est necessitas From a perverse will which naturally wee all bring into the World arise sinfull desires and while we humor our desire custome layes hold upon us and while this custome is not controld it proves another nature Heere then you see the difficulties of Sinne they are like the waters mentioned by the Prophet begin at the ankles rise to the knees thence to the waste after to the neck till in the end they overwhelme us Were it not better then at the first to venture over shooes then at the last over head and eares and therefore while the waters are yet low and passable before the overflowings of ungodlinesse shall too much fright our soules let mee commend unto you that Item of our SAVIOUR but upon a better errand Quod
done somewhat amisse When wee reade the severall Apologies of the Church of Rome except onely for the foule Sinne of his Denyall for all other infirmities of Peter Charge him with his imperious controlling of his Master opposing his own nay unto CHRISTS yea This shall not be unto thee so that our Saviour with indignation gives him this sharpe answer Get thee behind mee Satan yet Bellarmine will excuse him with an error in sensu non affectu though he might erre in his understanding not apprehending the just reasons of CHRISTS going to Suffer at Ierusalem yet there was no error sayth hee in the sincerity of his affection though in truth great was the error of his affection so to desire to shew his love to CHRIST as thereby to take a course to bereave himselfe of the benefit of CHRISTS love to him Charge him with his indiscreet Petition wherein the Text expresseth that hee knew not what hee said when he said Lord let us heere make three Tabernacles hoping as St. Chrysostome conceives Homil. 57 in Mat. that if hee could have perswaded his Master to dwell there he would never have remov'd to goe and suffer at Ierusalem yet Bellarmine will excuse him with a Potuit errare non potuit peccare Perhaps he might erre sayth hee but surely he could not Sinne for hee knew not what he said as if it were no sinne for a man to say he knowes not what Charge him with his over-confident Protestation as wee see afterward by the cowardly event Though I should dye with thee yet will I not deny thee and yet not long after denies him againe and againe and that before hee was in any danger of death yet Bellarmine will excuse him with an aut nullus hic lapsus aut amoris excessus either hee was not to blame at all or gently to be blam'd onely for an excessive expression of his love though we may easily conjecture at the greatnesse of his sinne by the greatnesse of his punishment for if PETER had not so boldly offer'd to dye with CHRIST CHRIST would never have suffer'd that he should so shamefully deny him Lastly charge him with this Presumptuous querulous curious question in the Text Lord what shall this man doe yet Bellarmine will excuse him and of all the Sinnes before mentioned finde him guilty onely of a little Curiositie and that with an If too Si curiositas dicenda venia dignissima If you will needs finde him guilty of a little sinne of curiositie surely it was but a veniall sinne So zealous in all things are they in the defence of St. PETER as if his credit were theyr own Now when wee reade and heare these things wonder at their boldness in making such strong Apologies in his behalfe as if indeed Peter had not beene so much to blame for any desert of his to be reprov'd as his Master for reproving him let us beware lest in the like kinde making the like weake excuses for our selves we make theyr Sins our owne Let us beware that we be not too forward to censure and controll to intermeddle with things in Church or State which are too high for us to speak evill of that we doe not understand and then think to excuse all with an error in sensu non affectu if our judgements may be mistaken yet our affections are well devoted For it is a great error in mens affections to be strong in the prosecution of such things wherein their judgements are but weake Let not the commonness of many sins cause us to give indulgence to our selues in the committing thereof because they are so common and then excuse all with a potui errare non peccare It was my errour and in many things we offend all but it was not so great a sin For surely there is no readier way to make sinnes great then thus to lessen them And indeed strange it is to consider how just and strickt wee are in point of Doctrine and will acknowledge no sinne to be veniall and yet how unjust and licentious wee are in point of Practise as if wee thought few sinnes to bee mortall Lastly when by the faithfull dispencers of GODS word we shall often heare our Sinnes anatomized multiplyed to more particulars then wee can sodainly discover while wee looke upon them only in the grosse Let us not breake out into tearmes of indignation and say Wee hate these men because they aggravate our sinnes and Prophesie unto us evill and not good No rather let us hate those Sinnes for which wee deserve these evils And when we know that the heart of man is deceitfull above all things and a hard matter it is for any man to know the worst of himself if wee shall sometime heare more then our self-indulgence will easily beleeve let us yet bee perswaded that wee deserve more then wee have heard of and humbly take up the Meditation and Prayer of the Psalmist Who knoweth how oft he offends O cleanse thou mee from my secret faults And thus much for a Second observation I come now unto a third and I have done And my last Observation omitting many others shall bee this That the great Mercies of GOD are commonly attended with great Iudgements For therefore doth our SAVIOUR here mention his comming in my Text because having come once already to offer great Mercy to the Iewes such as had never beene offered before to offer himselfe to as many as would beleeve in him that they might not perish but have everlasting life hee intended to come shortly againe to shew great judgements such as hee had never shewed before judgements so much the more severely to be executed by how much they had beene the more regardlesse of his Mercies Thus if you looke backe on the first judgements on the Angels Saint AVGVSTINE will tell you In Iohan. Tract 100 tantò execrabiliùs beneficii Dei ingrati quantò beneficentiùs sunt creati That the more excellent was the perfection of theyr Creation the more execrable was theyr Sinne the more severe and exemplary was theyr punishment or if ye looke on the first judgement upon man the same Augustine will tell you Hoc tam leve praeceptum ad observandum tantò majori injustitia violatum Civit. Dei lib. 14. cap 12. quantò facileori observantia poterat custodiri That Gods first command was with so much the greater injustice violated with so much the greater justice punisht by how much with the greater facilitie and the promise of the greater Happinesse it might have been observ'd Thus if we looke upon the Seaven Churches in St. IOHN as we read a declaration of great Mercy the Tabernacle of GOD came downe among Men with Starres and golden Candlestickes So wee heare a denunciation of great Iudgements too Repent or I will come and remove the Candlesticke to the Church of Ephesus Repent or I will come and fight against thee to the Church of Pergamos Repent or
him present after present first Goates then Ewes then Rammes then Camels and commands every Messenger to say These are thy servant IACOBS and it is a present sent to my Lord ESAV that if the first present could do nothing the second the third or fourth might move him and thus where he feared most hee findes most love ESAV imbraceth him falles upon his neck and kisseth him so let it be all our care being how onward on our way to seeke a Countrey and bow soone wee may meet with our LORD wee cannot tell to send before us present after present grace after grace that when hee shall meet heere with our patience there with our humilitie here with our prayer there with our repentance heere with our faith there with our charity hee may embrace us in the armes of his mercy and incourage our trembling soules with a Confide fili Be of a good comfort my Sonne thy sinnes are forgiven thee And thus much for the second exposition I come now unto the last Of his fulnesse have wee all received 3 Exposition and grace for grace that is grace to us answerable to the grace of CHRIST not hee one grace wee another but grace for grace grace in some proportion of like nature like condition with his GOD is faithfull saith St. PAVL by whom wee are called into the fellowship of his Sonne who when wee were dead in trespasses and sinnes hath by the same spirit quickened us together with CHRIST hath rais'd us up together made as sit together in heavenly places And indeed it is a meditation full of comfort that all those graces and favors imparted to CHRIST the head are communicable to us his members of his flesh and of his bones Was hee saluted with that gracious voyce from Heaven This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased behold the same spirit though secretly yet powerfully cryes Abba Father in our soules and assures us that wee also are the Sonnes of God nay heyres yea coheyres with his owne Son For as CHRIST was incarnate and made the Sonne of God by assuming our nature to his person so there is a kinde of incarnation in every Saint of God by uniting his nature to our persons And indeed every pious Soule is another Virgin MARY wherein wee reinwombe our SAVIOVR Qui parturit verbam Christum parturit Amb in Luc. lib. 10. cap. 5. and with whom wee travaile till hee be formed in us til he who is conceived in us is the Author of our new conception and giveth spirituall life and motion to our soules Had hee the wonderfull grace and power to worke great miracles give eyes to the blinde speech to the dumbe health to the sicke life to the dead Hee that beleeves in me saith he the workes that I doe shall he doe also nay even greater workes then these shall hee doe For if wee faile of the shadow in the practise of those great workes upon the body yet we have the substance of farre greater works upon the soule And such to this day is the powerfull efficacie of this quickning grace as that it openeth the blind eye and the deafe care with joy to behold and heare the wonderfull workes of God it looseneth the dumb tōgue and out of the mouths of babes and sucklings ordeineth strength it stretcheth forth the lame hand with cheerfulnesse to distribute to the necessities of others it softeneth the hard heart and kindleth it with zeale and forwardnesse O Lord my heart is ready my heart is ready Nay though wee bee dead in trespasses and sinnes grace is able to recover us Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and CHRIST shall give thee light Lastly is CHRIST ascended up to Heaven farre above all Principalities and Powers there for ever to sit at the right hand of the Father and will hee leave us comfortlesse alone No surely as hee hath given us grace for grace so will hee give us glory for glory too and therefore Blessed bee GOD sayth St. PETER who hath begotten us againe unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of IESVS CHRIST from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible reserved for us in the Heavens Now hitherto I perswade my selfe we all gladly give eare to this discourse and are ready to second it with the like Petition of the Disciples Lord evermore give us of this grace But yet I feare that as DAVID who went with joy to fetch the Arke out of the house of AMINADA◠on expectation thereby of a blessing to befall his owne house when hee saw VZZAH smitten with sodaine Death for presuming to touch the Arke was presently displeas'd and afraid too for how shall the Arke of the Lord saith he come to me and therefore he sent it to the house of OBED EDOM So I feare many there are well pleased with the grace of CHRIST as long as wee discourse of the joy the comfort the glory that attends it but let us once mention the sorrow and affliction which for grace and righteousnesse sake we must endure let us tell them that he that will bee CHRISTS Disciple must first in humility deny himselfe and with patience take up his Crosse and follow him this is a hard saying say they and who is able to endure it If these bee the difficulties which attend the Ark let it goe to the house of OBED EDOM we will not bring it to our City But before you send it away let mee aske you but one question shall we receive good at the hands of the Lord and shall wee not receive evill nay more Is it not enough that the Disciple bee as his Master and the Servant as his Lord Would wee receive grace and will we not have grace for grace would wee have the grace of his exaltation and will wee not have the grace of his humilitie CHRIST himselfe wee know first suffered before hee entred into glory and wee must first bee made conformable unto his death before wee can attaine the resurrection of the dead But blest men are we in that this conformitie now in a great part consists onely in a preparation and resolution to endure when as the peace and happinesse which wee enjoy have remov'd the misery of those evill dayes farre off from us which thousands and millions of the Saints of God have been inforced to endure Indeed we live by faith saith St. PAVL the best part of our life by Faith and not by sight yet what eye so dull that sees not the happinesse of this present life of ours or what tongue so tyed whose heart will not force it to breake out into termes of gratulation Praise the LORD O my Soule and all that is within me praise his holy name Let us looke into the primitive times or wee need not goe so farre but on the dayes of our Fore-fathers and how terrible then were the conditions of salvation What strength of grace what a compleat armour was then