call his Sonne out of Egypt it is no wonder the wonder is that hee did call him into Egypt It is true that Egypt could not hurt Christ the King doth not follow the Court the Court waits vpon the King wheresoeuer Christ was there was the Church But be our Israelites so sure of their sonnes when they send them into Egypt or any superstitious places It was their presumption to send them in let it bee their repentance to call them out The familiar societie of orthodox Christians with mis-beleeuers hath by God euer been most strictly forbidden and the neerer this coniunction the more dangerous and displeasing to the forbidder No man can chuse a worse friend then one whom God holds his enemy When Religion and Superstition meet in one bed they commonly produce a mungrell generation 2 Sam. 3.3 If Dauid marry Maachah their issue proues an Absolon If Salomon loue idolatrous women here is enough to ouerthrow him with all his wisdome Other strange women only tempt to lust these to mis-religion and by ioyning his heart to theirs hee shall disioyne it from God One Religion matching with another not seldome breed an Atheist one of no religion at all I doe not say this is a sufficient cause of diuorce after it is done but of restraint before it is done They may be one flesh though they be not one spirit The difference of religion or vertue makes no diuorce here the great Iudges sentence shall doe that heereafter And the beleeuing husband is neuer the further from heauen though hee cannot bring his vnbeleeuing wife along with him The better shall not carry vp the worse to heauen nor the worse pull downe the better to hell Quod fieri non debuit factum valet But now is there no tree in the Garden but the forbidden none for me to loue but one that hates the truth Yes let vs say to them in plaine fidelitie as the sonnes of Iacob did to the Shichemites in dissembling policie Gene. 34.14 Wee cannot giue our sister to a man that is vncircumcised either consent you to vs in the truth of our Religion or wee will not consent to you in the league of our Communion Saint Chrysostome calls this a plaine deniall of Christ Hee that eateth of the meate offered to Idols Gustu negauit Christum hath denied Christ with his tasting If hee but handle those things with delight Tactu negauit Christum hee hath denied Christ with his touching Though hee touch not taste not yet if he stand to looke vpon the Idolatry with patience Visu negauit Christum hee hath denied Christ with his eyes If he listen to those execrable charmes Auditu negauit Christum hee hath denyed Christ with his eares Omitting all these if he doe but smell to the Incense with pleasure O doratu negauit Christum hee hath denied Christ with his smelling It is said of the Israelites Commisti sunt inter gentes Psalm 106.35 They were mingled among the Heathen What followed Presently they learned their works The reason why the Rauen returned not to Noahs Arke is giuen by some because it met with a dead carkase by the way Why doe we pray Deliuer vs from euill but that wee imply besides all other mischiefes there is an infectious power in it to make vs euill Let vs doe that wee pray and pray that wee may doe it Yea Lord free vs from Egypt estrange vs from Rome separate vs from Idols deliuer vs from euill For thine is the kingdome the power and the glorie for euer and euer Amen Thus farre we haue taken a literall suruey of the Text concerning the materiall Temple externall or obiectuall Idols and the impossibilitie of their agreement Now to come neerer home to our selues in a morall Exposition here first The Temple of God Is the Church of Christ and they are so like that we often interchange the tearmes calling a Temple the Church the Church a Temple of God The materiall Temple vnder the Law was a figure of the spirituall vnder the Gospell The former was distinguished into three roomes the Porch the holy place and the Sanctum Sanctorum or Holy of holies The Porch prefigured Baptisme which is the doore whereby we enter into the Church of Christ The Holy place the communion of the militant church vply earth separated from the world The Hoon of holies whereinto the high Priest only entred that once a yeare presignified the glorious kingdome of heauen wherinto the Lord Iesus entred once for all There was one Court of the Temple common whither accesse was denied to none though they were vncleane or vncircumcised thus farre they might be admitted There was another Court within that allowed to none but the Israelites of them to none but the cleane There was a third proper only to the Priests and Leuites whither the Laitie might not come thus farre they might bring their offerings but further they might not offer to goe In the Temple it selfe there was one roome into which the Leuites might not enter the Priests might Another whither the Priests might not come but onely the high Priest and euen hee but once yearely Some passages of the Christian Church are common to all euen to the vncleane hypocrites and foule-hearted sinners They haue accesse to Gods holy ordinances and tread in his Courts as the Pharisee came into the congregation and Iudas receiued the Communion Other are secret and reserued wherein the faithfull onely conuerse with God and solace themselues in the sweet fruition of his gracious presence The materiall Temple in three diuisions seemed to be a cleare representation of the Church in three degrees The first signified the externall and visible face of the Church from which no professor of Christ is debarred The second the communion of the inuisible Church vpon earth The last the highest heauen of Gods glorified Saints Neither did those roomes more exceed one another then do these parts of the spirituall house of Christ What are the most polished corners of the Temple to the spirituall liuing stones of the Church What be pebles to Saphirs or marbles to Diamonds Howsoeuer some are more transported with insensible monuments then with liuing Saints As it was a complaint long since Fulget Ecclesia in parietibus luget in pauperibus Yet Temples are built for men not men for Temples and what is a glorious edifice when the whole world is not worth one soule Dead walls bee of small value to the liuing Temples of the holy Ghost yea the temple of our body to the temple of Christs Body his Church yea the Temple of Gods Church militant on earth to that which is triumphant in heauen What is siluer and gold Cedar and Marble to those diuine graces faith truth pietie holinesse Salomons Temple did last but some 430. yeares the Church is for eternitie The Temple took vp but a little space of ground at most the Hill Sion the Church
is vniuersally spread in all parts of the world God hath his chosen Did our intellectuall eyes truely behold the beauty of this Temple wee would with that good Emperor esteeme it better to be a member of the Church then head of the kingdome We would set this one thing against all worldly glories As when Henry 4. that late Great king of France was told of the king of Spaines ample dominions as first he is king of Castile and I quoth Henry am king of France he is king of Nauarre and I am king of France he is king of Portugall and I am king of France he is king of Naples and I am king of France he is king of the Sicilies and I am king of France hee is king of Noua Hispania the West Indies and I am king of France he thought the kingdome of France equiualent to all these So let thy soule O Christian solace it selfe against all the wants of thy mortall pilgrimage in this that thou art a member of the church Another hath more wit or learning yet I am a Christian another hath more honour and preferment on earth yet I am a Christian another hath more siluer and gold and riches yet I am a Christian another hath large possessions yet I haue an Inheritance in heauen I am a Christian Dauid thought it not so happy to bee a King in his owne house as to bee a doore-keeper in Gods house Were our hearts throughly sanctified we would vnder-value all honours to this that we are parts of this spirituall Temple the members of Iesus Christ Jdols Euery deuice of man in the seruice of God is a meere Idol Whatsoeuer we inuent out of Gods Schoole or substitute in Gods roome is to vs an Idol Howsoeuer we flatter our selues with reflecting all the honour on God yet hee will reflect the vengeance on vs. Iob 13.7 Shall a man speake deceitfully for God or tell a lye for his glory Hee is not so penurious of meanes to honour himselfe as to be beholding to vs for a lye The doctrine of vniuersall grace seemes to make much for Gods glory but himselfe sayes it is a lye for he will haue mercie on whom he will haue mercy and whom hee will hee hardneth To say that Christ in the wombe wrought many miracles hath a faire shew of honouring him but who can say it is not a lye Sure wee reade no such matter To distribute among the Saints departed seuerall Offices as one to haue the charge of women in child-bed another to bee the Patron of such a Citie or Countrey to omit their protection of beasts one for hogs another for horses seemes to honour God in thus honouring them but it is a lye and a plaine derogation to his vniuersall prouidence yea as absurd as if the flies should take vpon them to giue the charges and offices of this kingdome To say the Saints in heauen know the occurrents of this nether world and the condition of their ancient friends or children below reading them in the Deitie as by the reflection of a glasse this is a fiction that carries a shew of honouring God but it doth indeed dishonor him by making creatures as omniscient as their Maker Besides how absurd is it to say that Iohn in Patmos seeing Christ did see all that Christ saw If I standing on the ground see a man on the top of a high Turret doe I see all that hee seeth If the sight of him that looketh bee to be measured by the sight of him on whom hee looketh it will follow that hee which looketh on a blinde man should see nothing at all And who seeth not the blindnes of this consequeÌ„ce To say that all the worship done to the Virgin mother redounds to the honour of her Sonne and God is a grosse falshood The Idolatrous Iewes might as well haue pretended the honor of God when they worshipped the Queene of heauen That fanaticall vision of theirs Specul Exempl concerning the two ladders that reached vp to heauen while Christ was preparing to iudge the world the one Red at the top whereof Christ sate the other white at the top whereof the Virgin sate and when the Friers could not get vp the red ladder of Christ but euermore tumbled downe backward St. Francis called them vp the white ladder of our Lady and there they were receiued Did this make for the honour of Christ when the red blood of our Sauiour is not so able to bring men to heauen as the white milke of his mother which must needs be the morall or meaning of it Barrbad in Conâ— Euang. Or the obseruation of Barrhadius the Iesuite who made bold to aske Christ why in his ascension to heauen he did not take his mother along with him and makes himselfe this answer It may be Lord for feare lest thy heauenly Court should bee in doubt which of the two they should goe first to meet An tibi Domino suo an ipsi Dominae suae whether thee their Lord or her their Lady as if it had been well aduised of Christ to leaue his mother behind him lest she should share part of his glory Did this make for the honour of Christ To choke vp the knowledge of God by preaching that Ignorance is the mother of Deuotion hath small colour of honouring God The ascribing of false miracles to the liuing or departed Saints seemes to honour God but sure he will neuer thanke them for it Saint Augustine being sick a blind man came to him expecting that he could miraculously restore his sight but that good Father sent him away with a check Doest thou think that if I could cure thee by miracle that I would not by miracle cure my selfe It is a foolish thought that God will bee glorified by a lie Our iudiciall Astrologers that tye mens destinies to the Starres and Planets pretend Gods honour who hath giuen such vertue and influence to his creatures but indeed make theÌ„ no better then Idols Though the Sunne and Moone bee good and necessary yet to adore the Sunne and Moone is flat Idolatry It was not Mercury that made the theefe nor Venus that made the strumpet as when the husband cudgeld his adulterous wife and shee complained that he was vnnaturall to strike his â—wne flesh alledging that it was not shee that playd the harlot but Venus in her to whom he replied that neither was it shee that he did beat but Venus in her or rather Venus out of her To make this vsefull to our selues let vs take heed of fancying an other seruice of God then hee hath prescribed vs. Euery Master in his owne family appoints the manner how he will be serued He that requires our seruice requires it his owne way or else he holds vs to serue our selues not him Shall we make our selues wiser then our Maker as if he did not best know what would best please him Shall heauen giue a blessing to that
this world is enmity to God and the East West shall sooner vnite their forces thē these be recōciled It is the Deuils especiall ayme to bring these Idols neere the Temple he finds no such pleasure to dominere in his owne hell but he hath a mind to Paradise One wittily obserueth that Christ chose poore Fishermen as the fittest to receiue his Oracles to plant his Church because Satan scorned to looke so low as to tempt them He studied to preuent Christ among the Kings of the earth and great Doctors neuer suspecting silly fishers But when he found himself deceiued he will then make their whole profession to fare the worse for it he beares the whole succession of their Tribe an old grudge Before he passed by them and tempted the great Masters now he wil sooner tempt them then Kings and Emperors 1. Cor. 5.12 The Church doth not iudge them that are without but them within and Satan had rather foile one within then a hundred without Hee hath a desire to all but especially he loues a religious soule he would eat that with more greedines then Rachel did her Mandrakes The fall of one Christian better pleaseth him then of many vnbeleeuers No King makes war against his owne loyall subiects but against rebels enemies The deuill is to subtill to spend his malice vpō them that do him ready seruice He cares not so much to multiply Idols in Babylon as to get one into Sion To maintaine priests of Baal in the land of Israel at the table of Iesabel as it were vnder Gods nose or to set vp Calues at Bethel in scorne of the Temple this is his ambition The Fox seldome preyes neere home nor doth Satan meddle with his owne they are as sure as temptation can make them What Iailor laies more chaines vpon the shackled malefactor that loues his prison and would not change The Pirate spends not a shot vpon a cole-ship but he lets flie at the rich Merchant Cantabit vacuus the empty traueller may passe vnmolested it is the full barne that inuites the thiefe If we were not belonging to the Temple we should not be assaulted with so many Idols if not Christians fewer tentations Now the more potent and malicious our aduersaries the more resolute and strong bee our resistance The more extreame the cold is without the more doth the naturall heat fortifie it selfe within guard the heart It is the note of the vngodly that they blesse Idols Esay 66.3 if we would not bee such let vs blesse our selues from Idols And as wee haue banished the materiall Idols out of our Temples so let vs driue these spirituall ones out of our hearts Let vs say with Ephraim we haue heard God seene him Hos 14.8 What haue we to doe any more with Idols The vices of the religious are the shame of religion the sight of this hath made the stoutest Champions of Christ melt into teares Psal 119.136 Riuers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law Dauid was one of those great Worthies of the world not matchable in his times yet he weepes Did hee teare in pieces a beare like a kid rescue a lambe with the death of a lyon foile a mighty gyant that had dared the whole army of God Did he like a whirlewind beare and beat down his enemies before him and now does he like a childe or a woman fall a weeping Yes he had heard the name of God blasphemed seene his holy rites prophaned his statutes vilipended and violence offered to the pure and intemerate Chastity of that holy virgin Religion this resolued that valiant heart into teares Phil. 3.18 Riuers of waters run down mine eyes So Paul I tell you of them weeping that are enemies to the Crosse of Christ Had he with so magnanimous a courage endured stripes and persecutions run through perils of all sorts and sizes fought with beasts at Ephesus been rapt vp to heauen and learn'd his Diuinitie among the Angels does he now weep Yes he had seene Idols in the Temple Impiety in the Church of God this made that great spirit melt into teares If we see these Idols in others or feele them in our selues and complaine not we giue God and the Church iust cause to complaine of vs. Now the Lord deliuer his Temples from these Idols But all this while wee haue walked in generals and you will say Quod omnibus dicitur nemini dicitur let mee now therefore come to particulars The Temple of God Is euery Christian as the Church is his great Temple so his little temple is euery man We are not onely through his grace liuing stones in his Temple but liuing temples in his Sion each one bearing about him a little shrine of that infinite Maiestie Wheresoeuer God dwels there is his Temple therefore the beleeuing heart is his Temple for there he dwels As wee poore creatures of the earth haue our being in him so he the God of heauen hath his dwelling in vs. It is true that the heauen of heauens is not able to containe him yet the narrow lodgings of our renewed soules are takē vp for him What were a house made with hands vnto the God of spirits vnlesse there bee a spirit for him to dwell in made without hands Here if the Body be the Temple the Soule is Priest if that be not the offerer the Sacrifice will not be accepted In this Spirituall Temple first there is the Porch which we may conceiue to be the Mouth Therefore Dauid prayes to haue a Watch set at the doore of his lips to ward the gate of Gods Temple This may seeme to be one reason of saluting in former times by a kisse they did kisse the gate of Gods Temple Here the Feare of God is the Porter who is both ready to let in his friends and resolute to keepe out his enemies Let him specially watch for two sorts of foes the one a traitor that goes out euill speaking the other a thiefe that steales in too much drinking The Holy place is the sanctified mind that which S. Paul cals the Inner man Herebe those riches and ornaments the diuine graces Here not onely Iustice and Faith and Temperance sing their parts but the whole Quire of heauenly vertues make vp the harmony The Holy of holies is the purified Conscience wherin stand the Cherubins Faith Loue and the Mercy-seat shaded with the wings of those glorious Angels frō which Propitiatory God giues the gracious testimonies of his good Spirit Rom. 8.16 witnessing with our spirits that we are his children In this Sacrary doth the Lord conuerse with the soule takes her hūble confession giues her sweet absolution It is a place whither nor man nor Angell can enter only the high Priest Iesus comes not once a yeare but daily and communicates such inestimable fauours and comforts as no tongue can expresse Here we find the Arke wherein the Royall