that this Text may be applyed vnto Christians for euen of them also more then a good many arâ—â— â—nted with this Ignorance with this Arrogance they maime the truth in contenting themselues with outward Characters little caring for the inward which principally make a Christian and how many doe enter their names into Gods Book in Heauen before euer they looke whether they haue a counterpart thereof written by the finger of the Holy Ghost in their soules And what wonder if this Ignorance breed Arrogancie and they that think better of themselues then they should think worse then they should of others But let vs take care to be sure of our Resemblance before wee crake of our alliance let vs find in our selues Faith and Charitie Abrahams vertues and then hope well that wee are Abrahams children let vs so hope well of our selues that we despaire not of others Gods hands are not tyed his power hath no bounds they that seeme to be of least hope may proue more worthy then our selues But whether we looke vpon our selues or others if we find that of stones we are become the children of Abraham let vs magnisie God according to his mercie which we shall the better doe if wee call to mind what we were and what we are how senslesse we were how litle feeling we had of Gods either words or workes how brutishly wee adored the basest of the creatures Neither were wee only so senslesse but we were most worthlesse also poore soules indeed spirituall Lazars not worth the looking after but with contempt And as we had litle so it was litle wee could doe wee could doe no good either in glorifying God or edifying the Church or increasing our owne comfort wee were as barren to these things as very stones But see now these stones doe liue our hearts are sensible of the influence of Heauen and wee adore only him that liueth for euer hee with a liberall hand hath inriched vs and wee with a cheerefull heart fructifie vnto him wee cannot turne our eyes vpon our selues but wee behold his mercies and wee present before his sacred eyes our most humble duties Thus should we magnifie our God that hath done so great things for vs for vs I say that are the Ofspring of them that were sometimes very stones I end with Saint Bernards Caution Bernard de Scâ—la claust pag. 1253. God indeed can raise of stones children vnto Abraham as sometimes he did Saint Paul yet must we not tempt God and neglecting what is to be done on our part presume that Gods hand will worke all wee must reade the Scripture meditate therein Seeke knocke pray and then we shall find grace the windowes of Heauen will bee opened vnto vs and the hand of God will new mould vs he will mollifie whatsoeuer is stonie in vs and supply whatsoeuer worth we lacke what God can doe that he will doe if we be in any part stones hee will make vs euen in that part also Children of Abraham and if Children then Heires Heires annexed with Iesus Christ. GOd by his grace make vs all Abrahams Sonnes and giue vs all grace to walks Abrahams steps that wee may all finally meete in Abrahams besome Amen The fifth Sermon LVKE 3. VERSE 9. And now also is the Axe laide vnto the roote of the trees euerie tree therefore which bringeth not foorth good fruite is hewen downe and cast into the fire SAint Iohn Baptist preaching to the vnbeleeuing Iewes shewed them that they were sicke both at head and heart and therefore applied fit remedies to either part Hauing before in your hearing ended the first remedy that is applied to the Heart I began the last time I spake out of this place to intreat of the second remedy which is applied vnto their head Their head was sicke of Ignorance and Arrogancie both double I haue spoken of their Ignorance and the first branch of their Arrogancie their appropriating Abrahams family vnto themselues there remaineth yet one branch of the Text that which checketh their second pride their conumpt of God They did contemne God in that they set light by the Iudgements that were denounced from him marke their ground they thought they had such interest in Abraham that for his sake God would spare them and his wrath should neuer seize on them But they heare from the Baptist that they are not so in the Couenant but they may be blotted out and if they haue not some worth of their owne besides that of their Parent they must looke for an imminent totall finall eradication for Now is the Axe laide to the roote of the trees c. These words are a Parable and therefore they haue a Morall For a Parable is a Comparison of things spirituall vnto corporall wherein the things corporall and spirituall doe mutually giue light each vnto other the spirituall doe guide vs in the setting bounds vnto the corporall and the corporall doe helpe vs to vnderstand the secrets of the spirituall seeing then the spirituall is the key that must vnlocke the corporall sense we can say little to the corporall vntill we haue found out the spirituall But where shall we find it It is not here wee must looke it else where We haue it for a good part in Saint Iohn cap. 15. where Christ speaketh thus I am a Vine you are branches my father is an Husbandman Cap. â— euerie branch in me that beareth not fruit is taken away and cast into the fire Esay is more full and expresse to my Text The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and Iuda is his pleasant plant hee looked for iudgement and behold oppression for righteousnesse and behold a crie therefore hath the Lord of Hâ—sts reuealed this in mine eare many houses shall be desolate faire â—nd goodly houses left without inhabitants yea hell hath enlarged it selfe the mouth thereof is opened without measure their glorie their multitude their pompe euerie one that reioyceth shall descend into it According to this MoÌ„rall if we breake vp the Parable wee must obserue the Persons therein contained and the Iudgement that is denounced the persons are two God compared to a husbandman surueying his Orchard the Iewes compared vnto Trees of the Orchard Trees planted therein to beare good fruites Of the Iudgement we haue here the Cause and the Parts The cause is the Iewes not liuing sutably to their incorporation which is represented by a Tree not bearing good fruites The parts are two first the Iewes are depriued of that blessed estate wherein they stood the Axe is put to the roote and by the roote they are cut vp so the Parable doth resemble it Secondly they are exposed to the miserie which they deserued they are cast into the fire A fruitlesse tree burning in the fire is the Embleme of a sinner tormented in hell If you lay these two parts together they are a totall a finall desolation for kill the roote kill the whole
breaking vp the fallow ground of our hearts Ier. 4.3 Hosea 10.12 that they may bee sowen Now you know that they that breake vp their grounds vse the Plough and the Harrow the Plough turneth vp the ground in great clods that is the first breaking of it then commeth the Harrow and turneth those clods into dust that is the second breaking of it and so these two breakings represent corporally what you must spiritually obserue in a broken and contrite heart The very same may fitly bee represented by the second resemblance that is taken from Masonry the Scripture doth often tell vs that sinners haue stony hearts and therefore they must be broken that they may be made fleshy hearts as tender and soft as flesh Now you know that when a Mason or Plaisterer will worke a rough stone into all kinde of shapes at his pleasure he first breaketh him being calcined or otherwise prepared all to pieces and then those pieces he poundeth into dust then that dust with liquor he can worke into a soft substance which will receiue any shape according to the fancy of the Plaisterer Euen so must the Heart and Spirit of a man be hammered by Gods Word Ierem. 23.9 broken and broken againe that so it may be made plyable vnto the wil of God These be faire resemblances and I might insist vpon them and by them illustrate the humiliation of a sinner but I choose rather the resemblance that offereth it selfe in my Text and that is contained in the word Sacrifices In the Temple or Tabernacle there were two Altars one of burnt sacrifice another of Incense the sacrifice of either will fit our purpose That of incense Exod. 30. where God telleth expresly of what spices the perfume should be made he addeth these wordes thou shalt beate some of it very small and put it before the testimony in the Tabernacle of the congregation where I will meete with thee The resemblance is very fit But it is fitter if we take it from the other Altar and indeed it is fit we take it thence for though my text be true of all morall seruice God requireth it God delighteth in it as might bee shewed at large if the time would permit and it were to my purpose yet now haue I to doe with no more then concerneth King Dauids case the reconciliation of a Penitent so much morall worship as answereth to burnt offering and sacrifice whereof you heard in the verse going before now they did belong to the Altar of burnt offerings wherefore there will wee seâ—ke and wee shall find our resemblance For the sacrifices were first cut in pieces that was their breaking secondly being so broken they were burnt into ashes that was a contrition of them a contrition and a breaking which doth most liuely represent the breaking and contrition required in Repentance Looke backe vpon them The Priest that did cut the sacrifice in pieces did as the Iewish Rituals obserue not mangle but ioynt the parts and what should wee doe in our Repentance but orderly take asunder and in our meditations view apart the seuerall powers that are in our soule and not mingle the vnderstanding and the will but seeing each hath his owne defects we must feelingly consider the seuerall defects that are in each power And this is the breaking of the Heart and the Spirit But the parts of the Sacrifice were not onely broken but they were brought to the fire and there they were burnt to ashes and it is not enough for vs in grosse to obserue the defects of the seuerall powers that are in our soule we shall find them intricate and a very Labyrinth wee must hunt out euery lurking sinne and euery particle must beare a part in this humiliation the fire of spirituall affliction must pierce euen vnto the least iot of that which doth partake of corruption otherwise our Heart and Spirit are not as they ought broken and contrite Saint Ambrose conceiueth that these words are meant of Christ And indeed he that doth but read the 53. of Esay which is often alleadged by the Apostles especially Saint Peter shall finde that Christ had a broken and contrite Heart and Spirit indeed the Euangelists doe expresse it in significant words Luke 22 44. Math. 26.38 Mark 14.33 hee was in an agony his soule was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on euery side encompassed with heauinesse euen vnto death he began 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be euen astonished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to droope to become euen heartlesse the Sacrament what is it but a representation of the humiliation of our Sauiour Christ not in conscience of his owne sinne but for expiation of our pride was Christ pleased to be humbled not onely in body but in soule also And to him must we be conformed for he is the best patterne of a broken and contrite Spirit But marke in these words broken and contrite that euery kind of concussion is not a poenitentiall humiliation Iam 2.19 for the Diuels they feare and tremble when they remember in what case they stand Act. 24.25 and so did Felix tremble when Saint Paul preached of the iudgement to come and how was Pharaoh shaken when he was vnder the plagues of Egypt Daniel 5. Baltazar quiuered and his knees smote together when he saw the hand-writing but their hearts and spirits were made of tough mettall not one of them brake or was contrite but after Gods hand was off they continued whole and wholly the same persons And so if wee doe and it is too common for vs to doe so crie we out neuer so much I haue sinned and God be mercifull vnto me in our danger be it what it may be wee are not humbled as the morall seruice of God requireth As we wound our soules so must we be contented to search those wounds and least they fester Ier. 23.9 Habak 3 16. search them to the bottome we must be contented as throughly to grieue for sinne as to take delight therein But a little farther to wade into this point There are two kinds of Griefe that the Schooles speake of Appretiativus and Intensivus they apply it somwhat vntowardly but here wee may make a good vse of it for our spirituall humiliation must testistifie first at what rate wee doe set the fauour of God and hauing no better thing to wreck our displeasure vpon for the losse therof then our Heart and Spirit we vse them so roughly and choose them for the subiect of humiliation Secondly the breaking and contrition of heart and spirit doe shew that our sorrow is as intensiue as it is appretiatiue as the thing is most deare vnto vs which we afflict so there can be no deeper wounds giuen then those wherwith we afflict it But sorrow is not enough vnto humiliation there are two other things that must goe therewith and are very clearly insinuated in this manner of breaking and contriting our Heart The first is
his workes which we haue sauour of so great Mysteries for he was an Egyptian and from the Egyptian Priests had the Platonists their more than heathenish Theologie But when the tenne Tribes were carried into Assyria and after them the Iewes into Babylon this mysterie was spread much more by the dispersed of the twelue Tribes whereof there were some dwehing in all Nations vnder heauen as you may gather by comparing St. Lukes words Acts 2. with the entrance to the Epistles of St. Iames and 1 Peter It could not bee but that by these the world should haue some notice of a Messias to come especially after the Bible was translated into Greeke Surely the Sybils wrote so plainely hereof that not onely the Fathers alledge them against the Heathens to proue the comming of Christ but the Latine Poets also relate what they finde in them though they mis-apply it witnesse that Verse Iam noua progenies Coelo demittitur alto Yea they so misapplyed it Baron apparat ad Annal. that sundry did affect a Kingdome in the Common-weale of Rome onely working vpon the common opinion that was in the hearts of men that a great King about that time should be borne into the world Thus farre wee finde in histories that there was an indefinite report of a Messias to come whom the world therefore had an indefinite desire to see But this will not yet satisfie our Prophet and indeede his words are a prophecie rather of that which should be vpon the comming of Christ than a report of that which should be before And not he only but other Prophets testifie that Christ should bee no sooner reuealed vnto but hee should be receiued by the world that the Nations should flocke to him as if they had formerly longed for him The Nations I say in opposition to the Iewes Luke 1. Mat 8. not but that many of the Iewes did looke for him and entertaine him but few in comparison of the Gentiles themselues therefore he was rather the expectation of the Gentiles The Gentiles entertained what the Iewes refused as appeares Acts 13. Rom. 11. and it was foretold Deut. 32. Matth. 8. The propagation of the Gospell amongst the Gentiles was strangely sudden the Psalme compares it vnto the dew Psal 110. The fruit of thy wombe is like the morning dew Malachie to the rising of the Sunne And you know Cap. 60.49.11 that both of them as it were in an instant couer the face of the earth Esay's similies are of a Woman that is deliuered before she is in trauell and of the flocking of Doues vnto their house Zachary tels vs that they should come so fast that the City could not containe them Christ that the kingdome of heauen should suffer violence In Apol. Tertullian reckons vp the Nations which in his daies beleeued and shewes that Christianity had out-spread the Romane Empire Which was the more to be maruelled because the conquest was made by so meane men and that not ouer the bodies Iustin Martyr Dial. cum Tryphon but ouer the soules of them with whom they dealt They subdued the soules of the greatest Potentates and brought them vnder Christ and made the simple pesants that followed the plow to sing hymnes and psalmes vnto his praise And no maruell for the Apostles were inabled to speake to euery Nation in their owne language and their tongues were tipt with the fire of Heauen which suddenly illightned their vnderstandings to whom they preached and filled their hearts with a deuout zeale by this efficacie Christ became the desire of all Nations And vntill wee come thus farre we haue not the full meaning of our Prophet though I haue brought you hereto by many degrees all comprehended vnder common desire A common desire there could not bee except God had purposed that Christ should be a common good neyther could it be that this common good should take place except there were a propension thereunto in men And this propension is euident in the miserie of mans state without Christ more euident in the feeling that man hath thereof the euidence increased when men discouered but an indefinite hearkning after him but it is made compleate when they distinctly discerne him and their affections desire ardently to be partakers of him There is one point more which I may not omit and that is the strange construction of the words in my Text they are desiderium venient the desire they shall come a nowne singular and a verbe plurall There is a mysterie in it As the Articles of our Faith are beyond the strength of nature so doth the holy Ghost often times in vttering them vary from the prescript of Grammar rules I will shew it you in the two first Articles of our Creed The first is of the Trinity of Persons wherein there is an Vnitie of Nature to note this in the beginning of the Bible you haue a plurall nowne ioyned with a verbe singular Elohâ—m bara The second Article is this is Christs incarnation wherein though there bee but one Person yet are there two Natures and to note these two Natures in one Person doth the holy Ghost vse this phrase desiderium venient A significant phrase and puts vs in minde that eyther nature in Christ will not satisfie our desire if hee come only as God his maiestie will be too great for vs to endure if onely as man his infirmity will bee too weake for to relieue vs he that comes must bee both God and man Againe though the natures that come bee two yet is our desire but one because it apprehends them both in one person and it is the vnitie of the person whereupon our desire doth finally rest it selfe But I will conclude This Text doth checke our cold zeale and should make vs blush when we try our selues by it or by them that in the Primitiue times did iustifie the Truth of it their early flocking to pray and to heare their long perseuerance at it and often returnes to it shewed that they delighted to sit vnder the tree of life and that the fruit thereof was sweet vnto their soule they were euen loue-sick with the spouse and their thirstie soules did with King Dauids Cant. 2. Psal 42. like the chased hart breathe as it were and bray after the water brookes Euen in our Fathers daies vpon the reuiuing of Gods truth amongst vs some of this heauenly fire burned in the hearts of our people but it is long since quenched and our liues manifest the difference betweene factus Tertull. and natus Christianus when a man first becomes a Christian hee is at the best and then if euer his soule will poure out those passionate speeches In the way of thy iudgements O Lord haue I watted for thee Esay 26. the desire of my soule is to thy Name and the remembrance of thee with my soule haue I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me