ancient as now shee is For she was made so at Christs death cum è terra sublatus fuero omnes ad me traham like Eve shee was formed out of the second Adams side whence issued the two Christian Sacraments the water of baptisme and the blood of the holy Eucharist At the first she was fed with the sincere milke of the word in the Apostles time came to her perfect growth strength and full dimensions in the Fathers dayes when shee valiantly encountred all persecutors abroad and heretickes at home After 600. yeeres she began apparently to breake and in every latter age decayed more and more and now in most parts of the Christian world except onely where by reformation her age is renewed shee is become decrepit dimme in the sight of heavenly things deafe in the hearing Gods word stiffe in the knees of true devotion disfigured in the face of order weake in the sinewes of faith cold in the heart of love and stouping after the manner of bowed old age to graven Images Wherefore it may bee doubted that Cardinal Bellarmine was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 participated somewhat of the infirmities of old age in his bookes of the notes of the Church where hee would have o Bell. de not Eccles l. 4 c. 5. Secunda nota est antiquitas antiquity to be a proper marke of the true Church He might as well have assigned old age to bee the proper note of a man which neither agreeth to all men nor to man alone nor to any man at all times no more doth antiquity to the Church What neede I adde any more sith the truth himselfe hath dashed through this marke againe and againe Matth. 5.21.27.31.33.38.43 teaching us that the essayes of the auncients are not the touch-stone of truth but his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I say you have heard that it was said by them of old time c. But I say unto you c. Yea but say our adversaries of Rome Christ himselfe elsewhere argueth from antiquity both affirmatively o Mat. 19.4 He which made them at the beginning made them male and female and negatively p ver 8. From the beginning it was not so And Saint John also q 1 Joh. 2.7 This is the message which ye heard from the beginning And r Tertul. contra Prax. Id vertum quod prius id adulterinum quod posterius Tertullian That is true which is first that is counterfeit which is latter And Saint ſ Epist ad Pomp. Nonne ad fontem recurritur c. Cyprian saying If the pipe which before yeelded water abundantly faile suddenly doe we not runne to the spring And the councell of Calcedon crying with one voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let the auncient rites and customes prevaile and before them the Prophet Jeremy t Jer. 6.16 aske for the old paths and walke therein All which allegations make strongly for the prime and originall antiquity not for any of later standing The old pathes which the Prophet Jeremy speaketh of are the pathes of Gods commandements laid downe by Moses and the Prophets there wee are to aske where is the good way and to walke in it not because it is the old way but because it is the good way For there are old wayes which are not good wayes which God forbids us to walke in * Ezek. 20.18 Walke not in the statutes of your Fathers nor observe their judgements And u Psal 49.19 David forewarnes us of He shall follow the generation of his Fathers and shall never see light A fit poesie to be written upon the doore of every obstinate recusant among us The councell of Calcedon cryeth up ancient customes and ordinances and so doe wee such as are descended from the Apostles or at least are not repugnant to their doctrine and practice Saint Cyprians advice is good If water faile in the pipe or conduit or runne muddily to have recourse to the spring but what spring doth he there point unto fontem dominicae traditionis the fountaine of the Lords tradition that is the scriptures Tertullians observation is true 'T is good coyne that 's first stampt and afterward that which is counterfeited the husbandman first sowed good seed and then the envious man sowed tares Let the Romanists prove their Trent doctrine to be Dominica and to have in it the Kings stampe wee will admit it for currant After Christ and his Apostles had sowne the good seede which wee yet retaine pure in our reformed Churches they by their additions have sowne upon it tares Saint John draweth an argument from the beginning of the preaching of the Gospell and Christ from the beginning that is the first promulgation of the law in Paradise Let the Romanists fetch an argument from antiquity so high and we will soone joine issue with them And to this antiquity we might strictly tye our adversaries as Saint Cyprian doth his opposites u Cyp. ep 3. Non debemus attendere quid aliquis ante nos faciendum putaverit sed quid qui ante omnes est Christus Wee must not respect saith hee what any hath done before us in the matter about which wee contend but what Christ did which was before all When they pleaded ancient tradition hee demands x Epist ad Pomp. Unde est ista traditio utrumne de dominicâ evangelicâ autoritate descendens c. si in evangelio praecipitur aut in apostolorum epistolis aut actibus continetur observetur haec sancta traditio whence is that tradition is it derived from the Gospel or Acts of the Apostles or their Epistles then let such a holy tradition bee religiously kept And Saint Augustine * Aug. contra lit Petil. l. 3. c. 6. standeth at this ward against the Donatists whether concerning Christ or concerning his Church or concerning any thing that pertaineth to our faith and life wee will not say if we but as he going forward addeth if an Angel from heaven shall preach unto you but what you have received in the Scriptures of the Law and Gospell let him bee accursed Yet wee give them a larger scope even till the beginning of the seventh age wherein Mahumetanisme began to spread in the East and Antichristianisme in the West For the first sixe hundred yeeres they cannot finde any Kingdome Commonwealth Country Province City Village or Hamlet under the cope of heaven professing their present Trent Faith Wherefore as Phasis while hee was highly extolling the Emperours proclamation for placing men of quality in the Theater according to their ranke was by that very edict thrust out of the place hee had got there by Lectius the Marshall x Mart. epig. l. 5. Edictum domini deique nostri Quo subsellia certiora fiunt Et puros eques ordines recepit Dum laudat modo Phasis in theatro Phasis purpureis ruber lacernis c. Illas purpureas arrogantes Jussit surgere Lectius
of the Martyrs sepulchres when she had no Churches but caves under ground no wealth but grace no exercises but sufferings no crowne but of martyrdome yet then she thrived best then she spread farthest then she kept her purity in doctrine and conversation then she convinced the Jewes then she converted the Gentiles then shee subdued Kingdomes whence I inferre three corollaries 1 That the Roman Church cannot be the true Church of Christ For the true Church of Christ as she is described in the holy Scriptures hath for long time lien hid beene often obscured and eclipsed by bloudy persecutions but the Roman or Papall Church hath never beene so her advocates plead for her that she hath beene alwayes not onely visible but conspicuous not onely knowne but notorious And among the many plausible arguments of perswasion and deceiveable shewes of reason wherewith they amuse and abuse the world none prevaileth so much with the common sort and unskilfull multitude as the outward pomp and glory of the Papall See For sith most men are led by sense and judge according to outward appearance the Church of Rome which maketh so goodly a shew and hath born so great sway in the world for many ages easily induceth them to beleeve that she is that City whereof the Prophet speaks x Psal 87.3 Glorious things are spoken of thee thou City of God What more glorious and glittering to the eie than the Popes triple crowne and the Cardinals hats and their Archbishops Palls and their Bishops miters and crozures their shining images their beautifull pictures their rich hangings their gilt rood lofts their crosses and reliques covered in gold and beset with all sorts of pretious stones These with their brightnesse and resplendency dazle the eyes of the multitude and verily if the Queenes daughters glory were all without and the kingdome of Christ of this world and his Church triumphant upon earth all the knowne Churches in the Christian world must give place to the See of Rome which hath borne up her head when theirs have beene under water hath sate as Queene when they have kneeled as captives hath braved it in purple when they have mourned in sackcloth and ashes But beloved y Rom. 10 17. faith commeth not by sight but by hearing and we are not to search the Church in the map of the world but in the Scriptures of God where we find her a pilgrim in Genesis a bondwoman in Exodus a prisoner in Judges a captive in the book of Kings a widow in the Prophets and here in my text a woman labouring with child flying from a red Dragon into the wildernesse I grant that Christ promiseth her a kingdome but not of this world and peace but it is the peace of God and joy but it is in the Holy Ghost and great glory but it is within z Psal 45.13 The Kings daughter is all glorious within c. 2 That none ought to despise the Churches beyond the seas under the Crosse but according to the command of the blessed Apostle a Heb. 13.3 Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them that suffer adversitie as heing our selves also in the body Their turne of sorrow is now ours may be hereafter God hath begun to them in a cup of trembling it is to be feared it will not passe us but we and all the reformed Churches shall drink of it Our Church in Queene Maries dayes resembled this woman in my text theirs now doth both never a whit the lesse but rather the more the true Churches of Christ because they weare his red livery and beare his Crosse 3 That we ought not to looke for great things in this world but having food and raiment as the woman had here in my text to be therewith contented and as she withdrew her self from the eye of the world so ought we to retire our selves into our closets there to have private conference with God to examine our spirituall estate to make up the breaches in our conscience to poure out our soules in teares of compunction for our sins of compassion for the calamities of our brethren of an ardent desire and longing affection for the second comming of our Lord when he shall put an end as to all sinne and temptation so to all sorrow and feare Amen Even so come Lord Jesu To whom c. THE SAINTS VEST A Sermon preached on All-Saints day at Lincolnes-Inne for Doctor Preston THE XXIV SERMON APOC. 7.14 These are they that came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lambe Right Honourable Right Worshipfull c. THe question which the Elder moved to Saint John in the precedent verse to my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what are these mee thinks I heare some put to mee at this present saying What are these holy ones whose feast yee keep what meane these devotions what doe these festivities intend what speake these solemnities what Saints are they Virgins Confessours or Martyrs whose memory by the anniversary returne of this day you eternize 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence came they or rather how came they to bee thus honoured and canonized in our Kalendar My direct answer hereunto is my Text These are they c. and the exemplification thereof shall be my Sermon The palmes they beare are ensignes of their victory the robes they weare are emblemes of their glory the bloud wherein they dyed their robes representeth the object of their faith the white and bright colour of them their joy and the length of them the continuance thereof Yea but these holy ones you may object at least the chiefe of them had their dayes apart the blessed Virgin hers apart and the Innocents apart the Apostles apart and the Evangelists apart how come they now to be repeated why committeth the Church a tautologie in her menologie what needeth this sacred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or congeries of feasts blending of devotions thrusting all Saints into one day and that a short one in the rubricke It is that men may see by that which we doe what we beleeve in that Article of our Creed the communion of Saints Wee joyne them all in one collect wee remember them all upon one day because they are all united into one body admitted into one society naturalized into one Kingdome made free Denisons of one City and partakers of one a Col. 1.12 inheritance of the Saints in light In a word we keep one feast for them all upon earth because they all keep one everlasting feast in heaven the marriage b Apoc. 19.9 supper of the Lambe The Romanes beside severall Temples dedicated to severall deities had their Pantheon or all-gods temple See wee not in the skie here single starres glistering by themselves there constellations or a concourse of many heavenly lampes joyning their lights do we not heare with exceeding delight in the singing of our Church
ardebat cor vestrûm in vobis cùm exponeret vobis Scripturas The second jewel was a Saphir according to the Hebrew derivation from Sepher a booke wherein we may reade both the doctrine and graces of the second Speaker Hic lapis ut perhibent educit corpore vinctos saith Vincentius and was not his doctrine a Jayle-delivery of all deaths prisoners It is a constant tradition among the Rabbins that the tables of stone Bellar. l. 2. de Verb. Dei wherein the ten Commandements were written with the finger of God were of Saphir For although Pliny affirmeth Nat. hist l. 37. that the Saphir is a stone altogether unfit for sculpture yet this can be no just exception against this tradition sith the engraving of the ten Commandements was done by the finger of God above nature Moreover it is cleare out of this Text that the name of one of the Patriarchs was written in the Saphir Such a Saphir was the second Speaker having the Lawes of God imprinted in his heart The third jewell is a Diamond in Hebrew called Jahalom because it breaketh all other stones in Greek Adamas that is unconquerable because it can neither be broken by the hammer nor consumed in the fire nay the fire saith Zenocrates hath not so much power as to stain the colour much lesse impeach the substance of this stone Call to mind among the vertues of a Magistrate conspicuous in this divine Oratour his unconquerable courage unstained integrity and the comparison is already made Pliny reporteth Adamantem sideritem alio Adamante perforari thinke you not that if a man could have a heart as hard as the Adamant this Adamant pointed with sacred eloquence could breake it and make it contrite Lastly Pliny addeth that the Diamond is a soveraign remedy against poyson Et ideò regibus charissimus iisque paucis cognitus in high esteem with Princes if as our gracious Soveraigne hath so all Christian Princes had such Diamonds as this if such Preachers were their eare-rings they should be free from the danger of all poysoned and hereticall doctrine If as the stones placed in the second row agree with the gifts of the Speaker so they sort as well with the doctrines of his Text I am sure you wil all say that this second order of stones is not out of order A most remarkable story of the Carbuncle we have that cast in the fire among live coals it seemeth to have no grace in it but quench the other coals with water it shineth more gloriously in the ashes than ever before so our Saviour in the brunt of his passion while he was heat by the fire-brands of hell Scribes Pharisees Jewes Romans seemed to be dead and lose all his colour beauty nay was indeed dead according to his humane nature his soule being severed from his body but after the consummation of his passion and the extinction of the fiery rage of his persecuters with his bloud in his resurrection he shewed himself a most glorious Carbuncle shining in majesty burning in love After his resurrection in the day of his ascension hee taketh possession of his throne in heaven which Chap. 1. V. 26. in Ezekiel is said to bee like a Saphir stone now sitting at the right hand of God the Father having conquered sin death hell made all his enemies his footstoole he is become the only true orient Diamond in the world whether you take the name from the Greek ἄδαμασ ab ά δαμαω or the Hebrew ×להי from ×לה being invincible himselfe and overcomming all adverse power breaking his obstinate enemies in pieces like a potters vessell with a rod of iron The embossment of gold in which these gems of divine doctrine were set was his Text taken out of A Sermon preached by Doctor John King then Dean of Christ-Church and Vicechancellor of the University of Oxford afterwards Lord Bishop of London upon Easter day in Saint Peters Church in Oxford ESAY 26.19 Thy dead men shall live together with my body shall they rise awake and sing yee that dwell in dust for the dew is as the dew of herbes and the earth shall cast up her dead IT would aske the labour of an houre to settle this one only member I finde such a Babel of tongues at odds about so few words Variae lectiones Whereas we reade terra projiciet or ejiciet the earth shall cast up or bring forth as it doth her herbs and winter prisoners Junius hath Dejecisti in terram Castalio terram demoliris the Seventy Terra cadet S. Jerome Dejicies in terram the Chaldee paraphrase Trades in infernum and for mortuos in Hebrew * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rephaim from a word signifying to cure per antiphrasin the Seventy reade 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the wicked or ungodly S. Jerome Gigantes stout and robustious against God But to set you in a right and inoffensive way I reduce almost an infinity of distractions to two heads For all of them either speak of the resurrection of the dead indefinitely which they doe that say Terra ejiciet to wit postquam in terram dejecisti For the earth cannot cast up that it hath not and Manium terram demoliris or of the destruction of the wicked one only species of the dead which the Seventy call impios others Giants mighty to transgresse both senses as the Northern and Southern rivers running from contrary points meet in the Ocean so these from sundry and discrepant conceits run into one common place of the generall resurrection save that the latter adde a straine to the former of Gods vengeance and wrath prepared for the wicked Sense twofold Thus having set the letters of my Text together accorded the words it remaineth that their scope and intent be freed from question There is not one of the learned Scribes old or new Jew or Christian whose spirit and pen hath not fallen upon one of these two senses viz. that the Prophet either speaketh of the resurrection of the dead at the last day or of the restitution and enlargement of the people from their present straights in which say they calamity is a kind of death captivity as the grave Gods people as the seed in the ground Gods grace and favour as the comfortable dew to revive and restore them to their wonted being Of these two companies some goe after the literall grammaticall sense lending not so much as the cast of their eye toward the allegory as Strigelius Clarius Brentius Others on the other side of the banke standing for the shadowed resurrection are not so peremptory but si quis aliter sentire mavult per me liber hoc faciat and Calvin himself in his commentary layes out as it were a lot as well for the true as the typicall resurrection Falluntur Christiani qui ad extremum judicium restringunt Prophetatotum Christi regnum ab initio ad finem
lodging and a table in the wildernesse Wherefore let us cast the burthen of our care upon the providence of our heavenly Father who feedeth the young ravens that call upon him and undoubtedly will never suffer his children to starve There is nothing more choaketh the seed of faith and dampeth the light of the spirit and troubleth the peace of conscience than worldly cares especially when they are immoderate inordinate and distrustfull immoderate in the measure inordinate in the meanes and distrustfull in the cause when we say in our hearts What shall we eate and what shall we drinke or wherewithall shall we be cloathed We have but a little oyle in our cruse and a little meale in our pot and when that is spent what shall become of us The cure of these worldly cares is threefold by 1 Diversion 2 Devotion 3 Deposition of them 1 By diversion when we withdraw our mind from these carking cares and vexing thoughts to other more pleasant cogitations of Gods former mercies to us and the present blessings we enjoy As Painters when their eyes be dazled through long poring upon over-bright objects recover them againe by looking upon greene glasse or some darker colours which congregate radios visuales the sight beames or as husbandmen when their ground is overflown with much water make ditches and water furrowes to carry it away so if our mindes be overflowne with the cares of this world there is no better meanes to draine them than by making another passage for them and diverting them to the contemplation of a better subject as David did his m Psal 119.23.24 Princes did sit and speake against mee but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes Thy Testimonies are my delight and Counsellors 2 By devotion and prayer to Almighty God as Hanna did n 1 Sam. 1.15 I am a woman of a sorrowfull heart I have drunke neither wine nor strong drink but have poured out my soule before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial for out of the abundance of my complaint and griefe have I spoken hitherto Then Eli answered and said Goe in peace and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him And shee said Let thine handmaid finde grace in thy sight So the woman went her way and did eate and her countenance was no more sad 3 By deposition when being at a stand in our deliberations and having used all meanes to little purpose to relieve our necessities we in the end lay downe our burthen of cares and wholly rely upon Gods promises o Psal 37.3 5. Trust in the Lord and doe good and verily thou shalt be fed Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and hee shall bring it to passe And p Psal 34.9.10 O feare the Lord yee his Saints for there is no want to them that feare him And q Heb. 13.5 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee r 1 Pet. 5.7 Casting all our care upon him who careth for us assuring our selves that he who prepared Zoar to save Lot in the burning of Sodome and Goshen to preserve the Israelites from the plagues of Egypt and Pella to rescue his Disciples in the siege of Jerusalem hee who provided a fountaine of water to refresh Hagar in extremity of thirst and a cake of dough to satisfie Elias in extremity of hunger and the shadow of a gourd to coole Jonas in extremity of heat and an Angell from heaven to comfort our Saviour in the extremity of his agony will never leave us utterly destitute in our greatest perplexities The woman in my text was faine to fly into the wildernesse from savage men to savage beasts unprovided of a place to lie in or any manner of food to sustaine life yet God on the sudden prepared for her both lodging and diet So did he for the Israelites brought to a like exigent Å¿ Psal 107.4.5.6 They wandered in the wildernesse in a solitary way they found no Citie to dwell in hungry and thirsty their soules fainted in them then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and hee delivered them out of their distresse t Mat. 6.32 Take no thought therefore saith our Saviour for your life what you shall eate and what you shall drinke or wherewithall you shall be cloathed for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things He that cloatheth the lillies and feedeth the fowles of heaven will he leave his children unprovided of things necessary No if ordinary meanes faile he will lay an unusuall imposition upon all creatures to relieve his chosen The aire shall serve-in Manna for corne the hard rocke shall gush out with streames of water the dry cruse shall spring with oyle the Lions jawes shall drop with hony the fowles of heaven shall bring in meat in their bills and the fish of the sea bring money in their mouthes to supply their severall wants and defray their necessary charges Therefore trouble not your selves overmuch with the cares of this life but when you have done your utmost endevours ease your selves by relying upon Gods providence and be confident that he who feedeth you with the bread of life will not faile to give you your daily bread hee that offereth you the cup of salvation full of the price of your redemption and the grace of sanctification will not suffer you to die for thirst he that cloatheth your soules with the robes of his righteousnesse and deckes them with the jewels of his grace will undoubtedly provide a covering for your bodies 3 If the Church be truely represented by a woman flying into the wildernesse and there continuing for a long season certainely outward pomp and temporall felicity and perpetuall visibility are no certaine notes of her but rather of the malignant Church For so is the Whore of Babylon described u Apoc. 17.3.4 A woman set upon a scarlet coloured beast arrayed in purple decked with gold and pretious stones and pearles having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations And ver 15. The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples and nations and multitudes and tongues The darke foyle setteth off the Diamond and the Church when she is most obscure outwardly is most glorious within Albeit temporall felicity giveth her some lustre and furnisheth her with meanes to encourage Proselytes and erect stately monuments of piety and charity yet withall it ministreth matter of luxury and pride it breedeth faction and schisme it withdraweth the mind from celestiall contemplation it abateth her longing desire after the second comming of Christ on the contrary the Crosse is like a file that brighteneth all her spirituall graces quickeneth her zeale putteth her noblest vertues to the test wisedome by dangers faith by conflicts courage by terrours patience by torments and perseverance by perpetuall assaults Witnesse the prime age wherein she warmed her zeale at the embers