many thousands of Christians haue sacrificed their deerest bloud in their Sauiours cause gainst that proud Mahumetan Rabshecai who being possest of the Easterne parts spits defiance to the Christian world pouring forth blasphemous threats against all the professors of the Name of Christ If worldly felicitie be a note of the Church then there it is and they all false professors who haue beene subdued by his conquering sword But the Spouse of Christ is in this life like a pilgrime diuorced from her beloued her weapons are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not carnall but spirituall she is like a shippe continually tost at sea though neuer ouer-whelmed shee is like an house built vpon a rocke by the sea shore which is obnoxious to many a tempestuous flaw In this life she is militant in the other triumphant here she hath praelium there praemium here her labour there her reward here her seed-time there her haruest and therefore this iust person in my text is not said that he is but he shall be like a tree Like a tree Man is compared to a tree each part of him hauing some correspondencie and resemblance with the parts of a tree The beauty of his youth is likened to the blossomes of trees which eyther in a short time of themselues or with the Sunnes heate drie vp and wither away His haire which couereth his head and adornes his body is resembled to the leafes which couer the tops and vpper parts of the trees His breath to the sweet odor which trees of themselues send forth in the spring His radicall moisture oyle and balsamum whereon the naturall heate feedes and is maintained may be likened to the oyle and sap of trees which they of themselues sweate forth His disciplination and nurture to the plantation and grafture of trees His bloud which disperseth it selfe by the veynes as branches through all the body may be compared to those riuers of waters which being carryed by brookes ouer all the earth and through the pores of the earth doe secretly incorporate themselues into the rootes of those trees and by their moisture feed and maintaine the flourishing estate of euery tree Plato in generall saith that euery man is a tree turned topse-turuy making his head as it were the roote his members the branches to which I will adde that his words are the leafes his workes the fruit Gods graces the riuers of water by which euery tree is or ought to be planted From this resemblance of man vnto a Tree many notions doe offer themselues to our consideration each of them attended with his seuerall instruction 1 As a Tree which bringeth forth no good fruit so a man which bringeth forth no good workes in the branches of his faith is good for nothing but to be hewen downe and cast into the fire 2 As a tree if it be not well planted the fruit therof groweth sowre wilde and distastfull so a man if he be not well nurtured and disciplind 3 As a tree in the Spring so a man in the spring of his youth abounds with many luxuriant stems which by carefull education may easily be pruned and lopt off 4 As a tree though his first off-spring be from the earth and his roote in the earth erecteth his body and branches vpward toward heauen so man though his roote and off-spring be from the earth dust and ashes yet ought he to erect the branches of his soule and affection toward heauen and heauenly things in a diuine contemplation of his creator But although man in many things be like vnto a tree yet in this one thing must he be most vnlike Trees ordinarily bring forth fruit but once in the yeere but the whole life of man must be nothing else but a continuall haruest bearing fruit at all times as well in the Winter of his aduersitie as in the Summer of his prosperitie as well in the Spring of his youth as in the Autumne of his age he must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee must still haue leafes and these leafes must not wither nor fade but with them hee must heale the nations of the earth the outward barke and rine of his conuersation must serue as a rule to direct others and as they report of the figge-tree so the fruit of this tree must ripen as fast as it is gathered Vno auulso non deficit alter Virg. Aeneid 6. Aureus simili frondescit virga metallo That golden tree in Virgil enamoled round about and beset with all the richest pearles of the Poets refined wit and inuention Aureus folijs lento vimine ramus Ibidem was but Brasse and Lead in comparison of this tree planted like the tree of life in the midst of the Garden of my Text. I haue not beene learned in the language of the eloquent nor hath my tongue beene dipt in the ouer-flowing waters of abundant passion yet were it so with me Eloquence her selfe might here be silent for what ornament of wit what dowry of tongue with all the riches of his language can sufficiently adorne and set forth the glorious and flourishing beauty of this tree whose outward barke and rine surpasseth the Diamond in beautie his buds the Emerods his blossomes Pearles his gumme the Ruby and Christall his fruit the golden Apples of Hesperides his leafe true leafe-gold which neyther withereth nor fadeth This is that Tree whereon groweth those rich Onyx-stones which carry in them the names of the children of Israel engrauen and embost in gold This is that Tree which S. Iohn saw Reuel 22. planted by the water of life cleare as Christall proceeding out of the Throne of GOD and from the Lambe which brought forth her fruit in due season and bare twelue manner of fruits and gaue fruit euery moneth yea as good fruit as the golden Apples of the tree of life But least this iust man should deeme that this fruit of his good workes is by nature not by grace by merit not by mercy from his proper generation and not from his spirituall regeneration in Christ by vertue of the sap and moisture which naturally is in the roote and not by the riuers of waters which supernaturally water the garden of his soule it is added in my Text that the iust shall be as a Tree planted Planted Planted by that heauenly husbandman by whom whatsoeuer is not planted shall be rooted out and cast into the fire This word planted which the seauentie render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is by Aquila rendred transplanted which doth agree either to the person of Christ transplanted from heauen to earth or to euery iust and righteous person who is translated and as a tree transplanted from the workes of the old man to the workes of the new from the seruitude of the Law to the libertie of grace from a land whose riuers streame with bloud to a land that flowes with milke and honey That tree which was vnhappily
times in the bitternes of their soule cry out with Dauid abissus abissum inuocat fluctus tui Psal 42. 7. supra me transierunt one deepe of sorrow calleth another deepe by the noyse of the water spouts thy waues and flouds are gone ouer me though the waters of affliction in this life rage and be impetuous so that the very mountaines of their faith shake at the surges of the same yet shall they at length be planted as flourishing trees by those riuers of water whose christall streames make glad the citie of God From these waters I will fetch some and euery Christian may more water of comfort to refresh his afflicted soule with this or the like meditation That although in this life he be like a vine spoiled bleeding with compunction of griefe and as a tree planted by riuers of salt waters euen riuers of teares yet these riuers of brinish teares shall be as the morning dewe distilling from heauen which shall nourish the fruit of our workes moysten the root of our Faith and make our soules bring forth fruit in due season Which bringeth forth fruit When man was first endowed with a soueraigne command ouer all the creatures here on earth it was enioynd him by his maker not onely to fill the earth with men but as Origen writeth replete carnem vestram quae terra est bonis operibus bring forth fruit in the earth of your flesh Which fruit is two-fold internall and externall the first is infused the other acquisite the first are the vertuous habits of the minde the other good workes flowing and proceeding from these habits The first S. Paul cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fruit of the spirit Gal. 5. 22. Gal. 5. as loue ioy faith long-suffering and the like the second he cals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fruit of righteousnesse Phil. 1. 11. so that hee who is righteous Phil. 1. 11. must bring forth the fruit of his righteousnesse who is iust the fruit of his iustice liberall the fruit of his liberalitie lest hee be hewen downe and cast into the fire Neyther must wee onely bring forth fruit but euery man must bring forth his fruit he that is planted as a Cedar in the Paradise of this world must bring forth the fruit of Cedars an Oliue the fruit of Oliues euery tree his owne fruit and not onely so but wee must not curiously entermeddle with the fruit and affaires of other men spartam suam quam nactus est vnusquisque ornet euery man must striue and endeauour in the ground of his owne vocation wherein God hath planted him to bring forth his fruit that is such fruit as is proper and peculiar to his vocation and not to the vocation of others least seeking to be what others are thou loose thy selfe in seeking to be euery body thou proue to be no body in seeking to excell in all things thou proue a foole in euery thing Vzza must not touch the Arke nor meddle with the Priests office ne sutor vltracrepidam let not the Shooe-maker goe beyond his Last the Pedler beyond his packe the Painter beyond his pensell but let euery man keepe himselfe within the sphaere of his owne profession It is reported as a pleasant Fable by Leo Africanus of a little bird which is of so strange a condition that shee can liue very well both in the water and in the ayre and sometimes liues in the one sometimes in the other of this bird when the king of birds demandeth tribute she flyeth presently into the water saying shee is a fish and no bird afterward when the king of fishes demandeth tribute of her she flyeth into the ayre saying shee is a bird and no fish euen so these dissecta animalia these particoloured trees semivirique boues semibouesque viri these branches which bring forth now Almonds now Acornes now Figs now Thistles now the fruit of this man now the fruit of that mans vocation indeed bring forth none much lesse mature fruit and in due season A good word saith Salomon spoken in his due place and I adde also a good work or any good fruit brought forth in due season is like apples of gold with pictures of siluer Prou. 25. 11. There is one fruit of our youth Prou. 25. 11. another of our middle age and a third of our old age as there is one flower and beautie of the Spring another of the Summer and a third of the Autumne and these all are to be brought forth at their diuers seasons The fruit which we should bring forth before wee come to olde age is the fruit of a good life the fruit which wee must bring forth in the season of our old age is the fruit of a good death according to that of Seneca ante senectutem studebam vt benè viuerem in senectute vt benè moriar There is no season of our age vnfit to bring forth some fruit of righteousnesse but the season of the time wherein wee ought most to stretch the sinewes of our industrie to bring forth these fruits are especially in the season when wee are tempted to doe euill or in the season when occasion is offered to doe good The fruits of a Christian they are ripe at all times his haruest to gather them is at all times of the yeere When hee is tempted to Lust then is his haruest of Chastitie to Gluttonie then of Abstinence to Anger and reuenge then is his haruest of Mildnesse and moderation When thou seest thy brother imprisoned then is thy season to visite him naked then to clothe him hungry then to feede him wrongfully opprest then to relieue him in want and extremitie then to succout him Thou must not concredit the disposing of thy almes to the too-often-carelesse performance of succeeding heyres but thou must be thy owne Almoner and so shalt thou be fure to haue thy Will kept and to bring forth thy fruit in due season Such as shall deferre all their good workes till the end of their dayes and leaue their goods by others to be distributed are like a man that carries a candle behinde him in the darke which may benefit those that follow after him but not himselfe Such as all their life time by extortion and greedy oppression wrong the poore and vpon their death-beds bequeath some pettie Legacie to clad a few in Frize and stop the mouthes of Orphanes with loafes of bread who otherwise would cry for vengeance for their oppression from the GOD of Heauen doe not bring forth their fruit in due season nor are not like trees but rather like that Lion which Sampson killed which although it was rauenous in his life time and mankinde yet being dead had some little honey in his mouth Such as are called to be lights in the Church and shine not in their profession such as are called to the sacred function of the Ministerie in the Spring of their youth and strength of yeeres
raised from the dead dyeth no more death hath no more power ouer him so the iustified man being planted by Faith in Christ doth as necessarily from R. Hooker that time forward alwayes liue as Christ by whom he hath life liues alwayes For if Christ which is the foundation of our spirituall life may leaue that mansion which once he possest and flit away what shall become of his promise I am with you to the worlds end And if the seed of God which containes Christ may be first conceiued and then abortiue-like cast out how doth S. Peter terme it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the immortall 1 Pet. 1. 23. seede how doth S. Iohn affirme that it abides 1 Io. 3. 9. If the spirit which is giuen to cherish and preserue the seede of life in tender plants may be giuen and taken away how is it by S. Paul termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 1. 14. the earnest penny of our redemption how doth it continue with vs for euer If therefore the man who is once iust by Faith shall liue by Faith and liue for euer it followeth that he which is once planted and inserted a liuing branch of that true Vine Christ shall neuer againe from his body be disserted Man I confesse is apt and ready to reuolt from God but God is not so ready to forsake man our mindes are changeable but Gods decree is immutable whom God hath iustified Christ assures them it is his Fathers pleasure to giue them a Kingdome Notwithstanding Col. 1. 2. 3. it shall be no otherwise giuen them then if they continue grounded and established in the Faith and be not moued away from the hope of the Gospell Christ therefore when he spake of his sheepe effectually called and truely gathered into his folde said I giue vnto them eternall life and they shall neuer Io. 10. 28. perish neyther shall any plucke them out of my hands In promising to saue them hee promised no doubt to preserue them in that without which there can be no saluation as also from that whereby it is irrecouerably lost For without his especiall grace which must restraine vs from the one and retaine vs in the other wee are no more able of our selues to stand then the carkasse of that noble captaine which when a Lacedaemonian had often set vp in vaine the carkasse Plut. still falling downe he afterward confest that it was not the body and legs of a man which made a man to stand but there was somewhat vnseene in the body which made all these excellent motions and varieties and therefore said Aliquid intus esse oportet His grace it is within which like the fierie Chariot of Elias must draw both vs and our thoughts to heauen For wee are by nature like warme water which vnlesse it be still heated will coole of it selfe or like vapors which rise no longer then the heat of the Sunne draweth them which Sunne of righteousnesse if hee substract his beames yea but a little wee are soone frozen in the dregs of our impietie God therefore vnwilling to see his trees wither for want of moysture his dearest children to pine away for want of the food of their soules hee hath planted euery tree which is in the Paradise of the Church by him who is the fountaine of Gardens the spring of Lebanon by riuers of Cant. 4. water By riuers of waters Obserue I beseech you once more the attributes of this tree hee is a tree not a bramble or thorne planted by regeneration not suffered in his naturall generation and planted by riuers not suffered to remaine in the quagmire and filth of his owne inuentions and planted not in any mountanous region or eminent place but in the humble valley not by the dangerous shoares of the swelling Ocean but secus decursus aquarum by the banke-side of riuers of water The bodies of men are the Temples of the holy Ghost their soule the sanctum sanctorum the Graces of God the riuers which runne through this Sanctuarie they are as it were the Lauer before the Temple to wash them whose fountaine is God himselfe who shall clense them from all their sinnes and then how can they be without water who are planted by those riuers which spring from the fountaine of life how can they be without light whose light is the Sunne of righteousnesse how can they be without plentie of all things in whom dwelleth he that is the fulnesse of all things though the tempest shake the winde blow the heate scorch yet shall they not wither because they are planted by the riuers of Gods spirituall graces By these riuers of waters was Noah planted when he was preserued from the deluge of waters by these riuers was Lot planted when hee was preserued from the flames of fire by these riuers was Moses planted when hee was preserued in the riuer from that great massacre of infants Aristotle and Pliny both report that tender vines and other fruitfull trees prosper not being planted Plin. l. 21. Arist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nigh the sea or any salt water this world is a sea swelling with the surges of pride blew and wan with the colour of enuy salt and fretting with the sharpe humour of malice if then wee desire to be tender Vines in Gods Vineyard trees of life in his Paradise wee must be planted farre off and remote from the salt sea of this world and be planted as trees by the water which spread out their rootes by the riuers and shall not feele when the heate commeth but her leafe shall be greene and shall not care for the yeere of drought neyther shall cease from yeelding fruit Ier. 17. 8. That which Stories haue auerred of the roote of Plin. l. 32. Ouid. in Meta. the Corall which so long as it is vnder the water is soft and flexible but so soone as it is taken out of the water is as hard as any stone may truely be verified of the roote of euery tree in the Eden of Gods Church which so long as it is planted by the riuers of water which flow from the Sanctuarie of God is milde and gentle the fruit mellow and pleasant to the taste but when it is taken vp and separate from these riuers of water it is hardened as hard as Adamant and the fruit thereof is sowre and distastfull Iacob was like vnto this tree here in my text who was planted by the riuers of water and therefore Balaam Num. 24. 5. cryeth out Numb 24. How goodly are thy tents O Iacob and thy habitations O Israel as the valleys are they stretched forth as Gardens by the riuer side as Aloe trees which the Lord hath planted and the Cedars besides the riuers of waters These riuers of waters are as a well of comfort for forlorne Hagar and all other pilgrimes to refresh their wearied and fainting soules for although the iust and godly doe many