for one Starre differeth from another in glory and so shall be the resurrection of the dead 5. Fifthly looke yee yet neerer upon these shining stones and yee shall finde that they will not onely delight and lighten the eyes of your understanding but also heate and enflame your devout affections They are as twelve precious bookes wherein you may reade many excellent lessons printed with indeleble characters You see cleerly here the names of each of the Tribes in severall engraven let your marginall note be God hath from all eternity decreed a certaine number of Elect to bee saved and hee hath written their names in severall in the booke of life 6. Sixthly observe that the names of the Tribes are not written in paper nor carved in wood but engraven in solid and precious stones with the point of a Diamond never to be razed out let your interlineary glosse be None of those whose names are written in the book of life can be stricken out For there is no blotting interlining nor variae lectiones in that booke stars there are but no obeliskes the Elect therefore though they may fall grievously and dangerously yet not totally nor finally Stella cadens non est stella cometa fuit Were you beloved but embossed or enammeled in the ring upon our Saviours finger you were safe enough for no man can plucke any thing out of our Saviours hand but now that you are engraven as signets on our Saviours heart what can be your feare what may be your joy Is it so doth our high Priest set us on his heart and shall not wee set our heart on him shall we esteem any thing too deare for him who esteemeth us so deare unto him Hee who once upon the Crosse shed his heart bloud for us still beareth us upon his heart and esteemeth of us as Cornelia did of her Gracchi and presenteth us as it were in her words to his Father Haec sunt ornamenta mea these be my jewels Doth he make such reckoning of us and is it our desire he should doe so then for the love of our Redeemer let us not so dishonour him as to fill the rowes of his breast-plate with glasse in stead of jewels let us not make him present to his Father either counterfeit stones through our hypocrisie or dusky through earthlinesse and worldly corruption let us rub scowre and brighten the good graces of God in us that they may shine in us we may be such as our Saviour esteemeth us to be that is orient and glorious jewels The summe of all is this Yee have heard of foure rowes of precious stones set in bosses of gold upon Aarons breast-plate and by the foure rowes you understand the foure well ordered methodicall Sermons by me rehearsed by the jewels either the eminent parts of the Preachers or their precious doctrines by the embossments of gold in which these precious gems of divine doctrine were set their texts nothing remaineth but that the breast-plate being made you put it on and as Aaron did beare it on your hearts By wearing bearing it there you shall receive vertue from it and in some sort participate of the nature of these jewels in modesty of the Ruby in chastity of the Emrald in purity of the Onyx in temperance of the Amethyst in ardent love of the Carbuncle in invincible constancy of the Adamant in sacrificing your dearest hearts bloud and affections to Christ in passion for him if you be called thereunto of the Hematite You shall gloriously beautifie the brest-plate of our Aaron who hath put on his glorious apparrell and sacred robes and is entred into the Sanctum Sanctorum in heaven and at this time beareth our names on his breast for a remembrance before God his father and long it shall not be ere he come from thence and all eyes shall t Apoc. 1.7 see him and all kindreds of the earth shall mourne before him then shall he say to us Lift up your heads looke upon my breast reade every one your name engraven in a rich jewell You were faithfull unto death therefore see here now I give you a crowne of life behold in it for every Christian vertue a jewel for every penitent teare Chrystall Pearle for every green blew wound or stripe endured for me an Emrald and a Saphir for every drop of bloud shed for the Gospel a Ruby and an Hematite weare this for my sake and reigne with mee for evermore Cui c. THE DEVOUT SOULES MOTTO A Sermon preached in Saint Peters Church in Lent Anno 1613. THE XXXVI SERMON PSAL. 73.25 Whom have I in heaven but thee O Lord and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee Right Worshipfull c. THe words which our a Luke 12.49 Saviour spake concerning the issue and successe of his preaching may serve fitly for a preface to my intended discourse upon this Text Ignem veni missurus inter vos quid volo nisi ut accendatur I come to put fire among you or rather in you and what is my desire but that by the blasts and motions of Gods Spirit and the breath of my mouth it may presently bee kindled and burne in your hearts Burne it will not without fuell take heed therefore saith b In opusc Cave ne injicias quod fumum aut foetorem ministret Bonaventure what you cast into this fire to feed the flame for if it be grosse impure and earthy matter the flame will be obscure and the fume unsavoury but if it be refined pure and celestiall the flame will be cleare and the fume a sweet perfume in the nostrils of Almighty God Nadab and c Levit. 10.1 Abihu smoaked themselves for offering strange fire upon Gods Altar but wee are like to burne in unquenchable fire if wee offer not continually the fire I am now to treat of upon the Altar of our hearts and yet it is a strange fire too for it giveth light yet burneth not or rather it burnes yet consumeth not or rather it consumes yet impaires not but dilateth and enlargeth the heart Other fire burnes blacke and marreth the beauty of the body but this contrariwise giveth beauty to the soule for as Saint d Mor. in Job l. 18. Non clarescit anima fulgore aeternae pulchritudinis nisi hic arserit in officinâ charitatis Gregory rightly observeth the soule shineth not with the brightnesse of everlasting beauty that burneth not in the forge of charity With this beauty God is so enamoured that Saint e De dilig Deo Major est in amore Dei qui plures traxerit ad amorem Dei Bernards observation is true that he is greatest in favour and in the love of God who draweth most to the love of God If we desire to know saith Saint f Aug. Enchirid ad Laurent c. 117. Austine what a man is wee enquire not what he beleeveth or what he hopeth
and presenteth their prayers and them and himselfe for them to his Father For that Thummim that is perfections is an empresse becomming none but our Saviours breast all Christians will easily grant and that Urim that is lights are an Embleme of the divine nature Plato professeth saying Lumen est umbra Dei Deus est lumen luminis Light is the shadow of God and God is the light of light it selfe For Christ his third office we need not goe farre to seeke it for the Bells of Aaron sound out the preaching of the word and the Pomegranates set before us the fruits thereof and both his entire Propheticke function If there lie any mysterie hid in the numbers we may conceive the foure rowes of shining stones answerable to the foure Beasts in the Revelation full of eyes either prefigured by foure Evangelists or the foure orders in the Church Hierarchy Apostles Evangelists Doctors and Pastors as for the twelve stones doubtlesse they had some reference to the twelve Apostles for in the 21. chapter of the h Apoc. 21.14 Revelation where these twelve precious stones are mentioned it is said expresly that in the wall there were twelve foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lambe You have heard the mysticall interpretation lend I beseech you an eare to the morall 1. First these glorious vestments and ornaments of Aaron set forth unto us the dignity of the Priests office i 2 Cor. 3.7 8. and if the ministration of the letter were glorious shall not the ministration of the Spirit be much more Yes how dark and vile soever our calling seemeth to the eyes of the world it shall one day appeare most glorious when they that turne many unto k Dan. 12.3 righteousnesse shall shine as starres in the firmament for evermore Here I cannot conceale from you that l In Exo. c. 28. Cappo one of the Popes Botchers taketh measure of Aarons garments to make massing vestments by as before him Durand hath done in his booke intituled rationale divinorum where he saith Noster Pontifex habet pro feminalibus sandalia pro lineâ albam pro balieo cingulum pro podere tunicam pro Ephod stolam pro rationali pallium pro cidari mitram pro lamina crucem just but where is the causible in Latine casula sic dicta quasi parva casa saith hee because it closeth the Priest round as it were with a wall having a hole for him to put out his head like a Lover to let out smoake signifying that the Priest ought to be like a little cottage with a chimney in it heated with the fire of zeale sending up hot fumes of devotion and letting them out with his breath at the LOVER of his mouth But I will not put them to so hard a taske as to parallel each of their vestments with Aarons all that I shall say to them for the present is this That the neerer they prove their vestments to come to Aarons ornaments the more ceremoniall and typicall they prove them and consequently more unfit to be retained now by Christians if the Apostles argument drawne from the m Heb. 10.1 vanishing of the shadow at the presence of the body be of any force therefore let the observation of Cappo passe with a note of plumbea falsitas not aurea veritas wherewith he graceth it 2. My second observation is that God both first beginneth with the breast and appointeth also the most glorious and precious ornaments for it n Exod. 28.4 The garments shall be these thou shalt make a breast-plate an Ephod c. after followeth the mitre to the making whereof blew silke onely and fine twined linnen is required with a plate of gold on it but for the breast-plate cloth of gold wrought about with divers colours plates of gold and foure rankes of the richest jewells in all the treasury of nature are appointed all this as we may piously conceive to signifie that God best esteemeth the breast and heart and not the head My o Pro. 23.26 sonne give mee thy heart Our heavenly Father preferreth enflamed affections above enlightened thoughts he cannot bee received or entertained in our narrow understanding yet will hee p Eph. 3.17 dwell in our hearts by faith if we enlarge them by love Cecidit Lucifer Seraphim stant aeternâ incommutabilitate incommutabili aeternitate the Angels which had their names from light fell like lightening from heaven but the ministring spirits which are by interpretation burning fire hold yet their place and ranke in the Court of God Let ambitious spirits seeke to shine in Aarons mitre or at least to be caracter'd in the Onyx stones on his shoulders my hearts desire was and ever shall be to be engraven in one of the jewells upon the breast-plate to hang with the beloved Disciple upon the bosome of my Saviour 3. Thirdly I observe yet again that the names of the twelve tribes which were before written in the Onyx stones upon the shoulders of Aaron are here engraven againe in the rowes of jewels hanging neere his heart which as it representeth Christ his both supporting and affecting his chosen supporting them on his shoulders affecting them in his heart so it teacheth all the Ministers of the Gospel to beare the names of Gods people committed to their charge not onely upon their shoulders by supporting their infirmity but also upon their hearts Ver. 29. by entirely affecting them above others and above all things Gods glory in the salvation of their soules If q John 21.15 thou love me saith Christ feed my sheep if you desire that Christ should beare you on his heart before his Father beare you the names of his Tribes his chosen on your hearts before him 4. Fourthly you may easily discerne that the stones as they are of sundry kindes and of different value so they are set in divers rowes 1. 2. 3. 4. which illustrateth unto us the divers measures of grace given to beleevers in this life and their different degrees of glory in the life to come All the stones that were placed on Aarons breast-plate were Urim and Thummim that is resplendent and perfect jewells yet all were not equall some were richer and above others in value as those in the second row even so all the elect are deare to our Saviour yet some are dearer than others he entirely affected all the Apostles yet Saint John who r John 21.20 leaned upon his breast was neerer to him than any of the other all the Jewels were set in gold in their embossements yet one was set above another in like maner all the faithfull shall shine as starres in the firmament yet some shall be set in a higher sphere than others for as the Apostle teacheth us there is ſ 1 Cor. 15.41 one glory of the Sunne and another of the Moone and another of the Starres
after a more effectuall manner even because hee cannot utter his prayer by speech his very dumbnesse pleads for him so the sorrow of a penitent sinner which faine would expresse it selfe by teares but cannot which rendeth the heart continually and maketh it evaporate into secret sighes best expresseth it selfe to him of whom the Prophet speaketh Psal 38.9 Lord thou knowest all my desires and my groaning is not hid from thee 6. If he sink so low that the pit is ready to shut her mouth over him and he being now even swallowed up in the gulfe of despaire breathe out his last sigh and roares most fearfully to the great dis-heartening of all that come about him saying I have no touch of remorse no sense of joy no apprehension of faith no comfort of hope My wounds stinke and are putrefied and all the balme of Gilead cannot now cure mee The Spirit is utterly extinct in me and therefore my case desperate In this extreme fit of despaire give him this cordiall out of the words of my Text Hast thou never felt any remorse of conscience in all thy life Wast thou never pricked in heart at the Sermon of some Peter Wert thou never ravished with joy when the generall pardon of all thy sinnes hath been exemplified to thee in the application of the promises of the Gospel and sealed to thee by the Sacrament Hast thou never had any sensible token of Gods love I know thou hast thou acknowledgest as much in confessing amongst other thy sins thine intolerable ingratitude towards the Lord that bought thee then bee yet of good comfort the flaxe yet smoaketh the fire is not clean out thou hast lost the sense but not the essence of faith Thou art cast out of Gods favour in thy apprehension not in truth Thou art but in a swoune thy soule is in thee Thou discernest no signe or motion of life in thee but others may Thy conscience will beare thee record that sometimes thou didst truly beleeve and true faith cannot be lost Gods covenant of grace is immoveable his affection is unchangeable he whom God loveth he loveth to the end and hee whom God loveth to the end must needs bee saved in the end and so I end And thus have I blowne the smoaking flaxe in my Text and you see what light it affordeth to our understanding and warmth to our consciences what remaineth but that I pray to God to kindle in us this light and inflame this heate more and more to revive the spirit of the humble to cheare up the drouping lookes and cure the wounded consciences and heale the broken hearts of them that mourne for their sinnes that is to beare up the bruised and bowed reed that it be not broken and revive and kindle againe the dying lampe that it bee not quite extinguished So be it O Father of mercy for the passion of thy Sonne through the Spirit of grace To whom three persons and one God bee ascribed all honour glory praise and thanks-giving now and for ever Amen THE STILL VOICE A Sermon preached before the high Commission in his Graces Chappell at Lambeth Novemb. 20. 1619. THE THIRD SERMON MATTH 12.19 Hee shall not strive nor cry neither shall any man heare his voice in the streets Most REVEREND c. IN these words we have set before us in the person of our Saviour an Idea and perfect image of meeknesse the characters whereof are three 1. Calmenesse in affection He will not strive 2. Softnesse and lownesse in speech Hee will not cry c. 3. Innocency in action He will not breake c. 1. Impatience is contentious He will not strive 2. Contention is clamorous He will not cry 3. Clamour is querulous No man shall heare his voice in the street If it be objected that he did strive and that with such vehemency that he sweat bloud and that hee did cry and that very loud for as wee reade Hebr. 5.7 he offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and teares unto him that was able to save him from death and that his voice was heard in the streets when he stood up in the last day the great day of the Feast John 7.37 and cried saying If any man thirst let him come unto mee and drinke wee need not flye to Anselme and Carthusians allegory for the matter who thus glosse upon the words of my Text His voice shall not be heard in the streets that is in the broad way that leadeth to destruction Such Delian divers may spare their paines for the objections are but shallow and admit of a very facile solution without any forced trope Hee will not strive viz. in revenge but in love he will not cry in anger but in zeale neither shall his voice be heard in the street viz. vox querelae but doctrinae no voice of complaint but of instruction or comfort So that the three members in this sentence are like the three strings in a Dulcimer all Unisons Wherefore in the handling of this Text I will strike them all together Seneca in his books of clemency Cambden hist Reg. Eliz. Seneca l. 1. de clem Conditum imò constrictum apud te ferrum sit summa parsimonia etiam vilissimi sanguinis humili loco positis litigare in rixam procurrere liberius est leves inter pares ictus sunt regi quoque vociferatio verborumque intemperantia non ex Majestate est which Queene Elizabeth so highly esteemed that shee gave them the next place to the holy Scriptures reades a divine Lecture to a Prince in these words Let thy sword not onely be put up in the sheath but also tyed fast in it bee sparing of the meanest and basest bloud It is for men of lower condition to fall into quarrels and strifes equals may exchange blowes one with another without much danger it standeth not with the Majesty of a Prince to engage himselfe in any quarrell or fight because he hath no equall to contend with him so far ought it to be from a Prince to brawle or wrangle that the straining of his voice is unbefitting him upon any occasion whatsoever What the wise Philosopher prescribeth to a good Prince the Prophet Esay describeth in our King Messias who was so milde in his disposition that hee was never stirred to passion so gentle in his speech that he never strained his voice in choler so innocent in his actions that he never put forth his strength to hurt any We reade in the booke of a 1. Kin. 19.11 12. Kings that there was a mighty wind but God was not in the wind and after the wind an earth-quake but God was not in the earth-quake and after the earth-quake a fire but God was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice in which God was There God was in the still voice but here the Evangelist out of the Prophet informeth us that there was a small still voice in
part yet the Divell so hardened Ruthwen that he tooke out the other dagger and set the point thereof at his Majesties royall breast And now if ever any lay inter k Eras adag sacrum saxum betweene the axe and the blocke or l Theoâ—ri in dioscâ—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the edge of the razor or in ipsis fati m Cic. Catilin â—â—ai 2. faucibus in the very chops of destinie or jawes of death it selfe at the point lay the hope then and now the joy and life of us all Alone in a remote place his servans and attendants barred from him by many doores locked and bolted himselfe destitute of all weapons betweene two Conspirators with a poynard bent to his heart O King live for ever is not thy God whom thou servest able to deliver thee from this perill of death Could hee not snatch thee out of the paw of the Lion Could hee not have strucke downe both the Conspirators dead to the floore with a thunderbolt from heaven or at the least taken away the use of Ruthwens limbes drying up that hand that presumed to touch the apple of his owne eye the sacred person of our Soveraigne With a word he could but it seemed best to his all-sweetly-disposing providence wonderfully to preserve his Majestie yet without a miracle For if he had rescued him by any such miraculous meanes as I named before there had beene no occasion offered nor place left for his Majesties faithfull servants to stake their lives for their Master neither had the world taken such notice of his Majesties rare gift of eloquence by the force whereof like another n Cic. de orat l. 3. Antonie intentos gladios jugulo retudit he stayed the Traitors hand and delayed the intended blow first clearing his owne innocencie from the aspersion of bloud in the execution of the Traitors father by course of justice in his Majesties minority then recounting to him the many princely favours he had conferred upon his brother himselfe and all their kindred but especially laying before his eyes the horrour of the guilt of embruing his hands in the bloud of the Lords annointed which said he if my children and subjects should not revenge the stones out of the wall and the beames of the timber conscious of such a villanie would execute vengeance upon thee for so unnaturall barbarous and bloudie an act In fine he promised in the word of a King pardon for all the violence he had hitherto offered him if he would yet relent and desist from his murtherous intent and attempt of spilling royall bloud At which words Ruthwens heart though of Adamant began to relent and give in in such sort that hee gave his Majestie a time to breathe and offer up prayers with strong cries to the God of his salvation who heard him in that hee feared as you shall heare anon In the interim Ruthwen consults with the Earle Gowrie his brother and according to the Latine o Eras adag Aspis a vipera sumit venenum proverbe the aspe suckes poyson from the viper wherewith he swelleth and brusling up himselfe flies at his Majestie the second time to sting him to death and wrapping about him begins to bind his royall hands who nothing appalled at the hideous shape of death within a fingers breadth of his heart answers like himselfe that he was borne free and would die free and unbound forthwith he unlooseth his hands and with one of them clasping the Traitors sword with the other he grapples with him and after much struggling his Majestie draweth the Traitor to the window by which it so pleased God to dispose for his Majesties safety that some of his Majesties servants passed at that very instant and both heard and saw in part in what distresse his Majestie was and made all possible speed to rescue him but before they could force a way through so many doores the King by power from above got the Traitor under him and drew him by maine force to the top of the staire-case where soone after the Kings servants forcibly breaking through all barres bolts and lockes met with him and throwing him downe staires sent him with many wounds to his owne place verifying the letter of this prophecie in the confusion of our Davids enemies qui quaerunt praecipitium animae meae they which seeke the downefall of my soule they shall goe or rather tumble downe with a witnesse And so I passe from the Traitors attempt to the event and happy catastrophe on the Kings part of this not fained Interlude They shall goe downe By this time as I intimated but now the Kings servants partly made and partly found their way into the study rushing in to save the life of their Soveraigne where they had no sooner dispatched one of the brothers Alexander Ruthwen but the other brother the Earle with seven of his servants well appointed encountreth them The skirmish growes hot betweene them these fighting for their lives they for their Soveraigne these animated by hope they whet on by desperation After many wounds given and received on both sides they of the Kings part according to the words of the tenth verse cast him down or as it is in the Hebrew make his bloud spin or run out like water on the ground his I say the arch-Traitor the Earle Gowrie who may be compared to Saul Davids chiefe enemie whose downefall the spirit in the pronoune in the singular number him pointeth at in many respects but especially in this that he tooke counsell of the Divell to murther the Lords Annointed For as Saul conferred with the Witch at Endor before he put himselfe into the field which he watered with his bloud so the Earle Gowrie before hee entred into this Acheldamah field of bloud pitched by himselfe hee made the Divell of his counsell and was found with many magicke characters about him when he fell by the edge of the sword If any man question how it could so fall out that Alexander Ruthwen being more nimble strong and expert in wrestling and having many wayes advantage on his Majestie should not throw him downe or get him under him I answer out of the words immediately going before my text dextra Jehovae sustentabat eum the right hand of the Lord supported him the King by whose speciall providence it was ordered that his Majesties servants should passe by the window at the very moment when his Majestie looked out as also that some of them should finde that blinde way by the turne-pecke into the studie which the Earle Gowrie caused to bee new made for this his divellish enterprise Therefore his Majestie as soone as the bloudie storme was blowne over kneeled downe in the middest of all his servants and offered up the calves of his lips to the God of his life promising a perpetuall memorie of this his deliverie and professing that hee assured himselfe that God had not preserved him
high condition that all other owe dutie and thankfull service to them and they to him alone Thankes are not thankes-worthy if they flote onely in the mouth for a time and spring not continually from the heart That gratitude is gratefull and acceptable to God and men whose root is in the heart and blossomes in the tongue and fruits in the hands whose root is love and blossomes praises and fruits good works The root in the heart cannot be seene of any but God the blossomes in the lips are blowne away with a breath but the fruits in the hands are more lasting Wherefore Noah was not contented after he and his family were saved from the deluge to offer up a sweet smelling sacrifice of thankes-giving upon the Altar of his heart but he leaveth behind him an Altar of stone Jacob an house to God Joshua a Trophey Solomon a Temple the Centurion a Synagogue Veronica a statue of brasse Constantine many Churches and Hospitals Paula a magnificent Monasterie at Bethlehem where our Lord was borne The Heathen after they had escaped shipwracke hung up their f Horat. od Me tabula sacer votiva paries indicabit humida suspendisse vestimenta Maris deo votivas tabulas to Neptune After victorie besides supplications per omnia pulvinaria deorum they put garlands upon the Images of their gods and left the chiefe spoyles taken in warre in the Temple of Mars The Jewes by the commandement of God reserved a golden pot of Manna in the Arke in memorie of that Manna which fell in the Wildernesse In a thankfull acknowledgement of the deliverance of their first borne in Egypt they offered every first borne to God and to eternize the memoriall of their passage out of Egypt and freedome from servitude they altered their Calendar and made that moneth in which God by Moses delivered them out of the house of bondage the g Exod. 12.2 beginning of their moneths Application According to which religious presidents our gracious King being as upon this day pulled out of the paw first of the Beare and then of the Lion and his seven clawes hath erected a lasting living and which is more a speaking monument of his thankfulnesse to God by appointing the feast we now keepe to preserve from oblivion his Majesties wonderfull preservation on this day from imminent destruction When a motion was made in the Senate of dedicating a statue of massie gold to the honour of h Tacit. annal l. 2. Illae verae sunt Statuae quae in hominum mentibus collocantur Germanicus Tiberius the Emperor opposed it but upon a very plausible pretence that Images of brasse and gold are subject to many casualties they may be stolne away they may be defaced and battered foule indignities and scorns be put upon them Those are the true Statues of vertue and Altars of fame which are set up in mens mindes such Altars hath our Soveraigne erected in the hearts of all his loving subjects upon which wee offer this day throughout all his dominions the sacrifice of praise and thankes-giving for his Majesties marvellous deliverance unparalleld in our age i Psal 19.2 Dies ad diem eructat sei monem nox ad noctem annunciat scientiam One day shall tell another and one night shall proclaime it to another what great things the Lord did upon this day for his Annointed whereat we rejoyce How was his Majestie wrapt over and over in the snares of death when under colour of taking a Seminarie Priest as he was made beleeve newly arrived with a pot full of golden seeds to sow rebellion and treason in his Kingdome he was led by Alexander Ruthwen through so many chambers into that study which was a long time before appointed for the stage whereon to act that bloudie tragedie whose catastrophe was as happy to the King and Kingdome as dismall and fatall to the principall Actors If ever study might be rightly termed according to the Latine name armarium this was it for it was not musaeum but campus Martius not a students treasurie but a traitors armorie here he findeth but two Authors and they should both have beene Actors In stead of the gold which was promised here he seeth Iron and steele and no strange coyne as he was borne in hand but his own I meane the crosse daggers not stamped on metall but readie to be driven into his sacred breast and sheathed in his bowels Well might the King here cry upon k Philo de legat Alex. Ubi cessat humanum auxilium ibi adest divinum Philo as Croesus did upon * Herod clio Solon when hee stood on the pile to be burned and the fire was kindled at the bottome O Philo Philo I finde thy words to be gospell though thou wert an unbeleeving Jew Mans extreamest necessitie is Gods chiefest opportunitie then commeth helpe from heaven when the earth is at a stand and man at his wits end What hope was here from man whence could the King expect any helpe being unarmed unattended unguarded betweene two Traitors as Christ betweene two theeves with the point of a dagger at his heart in that darke roome Whence or how should there breake in any light of comfort from any the least chinke Where should his hope cast anchor Upon his servants and traine But besides many doores lockes bolts and barres betweene them and his Majestie most of them by the Earle Gowry upon a false alarum were sent out of doores to post after him in the field Upon the Traitor himselfe But his respectlesse and barbarous carriage his desperate speeches his execrable oathes his bloudie lookes his sparkling eyes and glistering poynard drawne threatned nothing put present death Upon himselfe But alas he had no weapon defensive or offensive and now the signe was at the heart I meane the daggers point at his breast O the dread of sacred Majestie O the bulwarke of innocencie O the power of eloquence O the force of conscience which though they could not blunt the point of the Traitoâ— dagger yet they dulled the edge of his malice for a time When a scholar of St. l Ruffin in hist John the Evangelist mis-led by ill company had turned to a Ruffian and common hackster and robber by the high way and drew at his master upon a word only spoken to him by St. John he relents flings away his weapon falls downe upon his knees craveth pardon with teares and promiseth for ever to abandon his wicked course of life So powerfull is the ministerie of the word and mighty in operation so reverend is the calling of the dispencers of Gods mysteries that the naming only of a dead Preacher Mr. Rollock preserved for a time the life of our Soveraigne Ruthwen cannot endure to heare that the soule of Master Rollock should accuse him before Christs tribunall for defiling the doctrine of the Gospel which he taught him by the bloud spilt by him of the
ut eorum exposcit officium nomen consulant quaeritur enim quantum reddat episcopatus non quot oves pascuae in eo sint Platina giveth a touch hereof in the life of Pope Goodface the third the first question is after a man is chosen Pope what is the Bishopricke of Rome worth Filthy lucre carrieth such an ill favour with it that the precious oyntment of Aaron cannot take away the smell thereof Covetousnesse is a spot in any coat but a stain in the linnen Ephod what so unfit what so incongruous nay what so opprobrious and scandalous as for those who in scripture are stiled Angels and should like Angels by continuall meditations and divine contemplations behold the face of God in heaven to turne earth-wormes and lye and feed upon very mucke How dare they deliver the holy Sacrament with those hands that have received bribes or are defiled with the price of blood or are foule with telling their use-money Holinesse which of all other most be fitteth our sacred calling in the greeke implyeth a contradiction to earthlinesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which wee render holy is all one in that language as unearthly If a glasse bee soyled with dust or beâ—â—â—eared with dirt it reflecteth no image at all in like manner if the minde bee soyled with the dust of earthlinesse the image of God cannot appeare in it the fancie of such a man will represent no spirituall forme conceive no divine or heavenly imaginations If wee seeke our owne and not the things that are Jesus Christs the goods not the good of our flocke wee lose the first letter of our name in the Prophet r Ezek. 3.17 Sonne of man I have made thee a watchman Ezekiel and of speculatores become peculatores and are not to be termed praedicatores but praedatores But I will not make this blot bigger by unskilfully going about to take it out 8 Of those that feede Not as Lords and take the over-sight of Gods flocke that is among them not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready minde some carry themselves like Lords over the flocke not as ensamples to their flock they goe in and out before them in a stately and lordly gate Å¿ Concil Carthag 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fumosus seculityphus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in swelling pride not in exemplary humility seeking rather to over-rule them with terrour and violence than rule over them with the spirit of meeknesse These though they are put up to the highest fourme yet have not learned the first lesson in the schoole of Christianity t Matth. 11.29 to be meek and lowly in heart neither understand they that divine graces which are the plants of Paradise are like to the tree in the Poet that bare golden boughes u Virg. Aen. 6. Quae quantum vertice ad auras Aethereas tantum radice in Tartara tendit whose root was just so much beneath the earth as the top was in height above it The higher Gods Saints grow upwards to perfection the deeper they take root downward in humility considering that they have nothing of their owne but sinne and what a foolish and impious sinne of pride is it to bee proud of sinne He that presumes on his owne strength saith holy Austine is conquered before hee fight To repose trust in our selves saith * Bern. serm 20. in vigil nat dom Sibimet ipsi fidere non fidei sed perfidiae est nec confidentiae sed diffidentiae magis in semetipso habere fiduciam Bernard is not of faith but perfidiousnesse neither breeds it true confidence but diffidence To bee proud of knowledge is to bee blinde with light to bee proud of vertue is to poyson himselfe with the Antidote and to be proud of authority is to make his rise his downefall and his ladder his ruine It is the darke foyle that giveth the Diamond its brightest lustre it is the humble and low and obscure conceit of our owne worth that giveth lustre and grace to all our vertues and perfections if we have any Moses glory was the greater because his face shined and he knew not of it Thus have I numbred unto you the severall linkes of the Apostles golden chaine of instructions for Pastors now let us gather them together in a narrow roome 1 Be not such as neede to be fed but are able and willing to feede 2 Feede not your selves but the flocke 3 Feede not the flocke or droves of Antichrist but the flocke of God 4 Feede the flocke of God not out of your charge or without you but the flocke of God which is among you 5 Content not your selves with feeding them onely with the Word and Sacrament but over-looke them also have an eye to their manners 6 Doe this not constrainedly but willingly 7 Not out of private respects but freely 8 Not proudly but humbly not to shew your authority over the flock but to set before them an ensample in your selves of humility meekenesse temperance patience and all other vertues Thus feede the flocke of God that is among you thus rule those whom you feede thus carry yourselves towards those whom you rule thus give good ensample in your carriage and when the chiefe shepheard and Bishop of your soules Christ Jesus shall appeare you shall receive in stead of a Crosier a Scepter of a Miter a Crowne of a Diocesse upon earth a Kingdome in heaven You see I have a large and plentifull field before mee yet I purpose at this time to follow the example of the Apostles x Matth. 12.1 who as they passed through the corne field plucked only an eare or two and rubbed them in their hands To rub the first eare that you may see what graine it yeeldeth To feed saith y l. 1. de Rom. pont c. 15. In scripturis pascere passim accipitur pro regere ut psal 2. reges cos in virgâ ferreâ in Heb. est pasce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apoc. 2.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bellarmine signifieth to rule with princely authority to sway the scepter as a spirituall Prince over Christs flocke and to this purpose hee alledgeth that text in the Apocalyps 2.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hee shall feede or rule them with a rod of iron hard feeding for Christs sheepe hee had need to have an Estridge's stomacke that can digest this interpretation here Feed not over-ruling ver 3. that is over-rule them not feeding this is as naturall an interpretation of this scripture as the glosse upon the word statuimus in the Canon law id est abrogamus or statuimus quod non wee enact that is wee abrogate we command that is wee forbid we appoint this that is wee appoint that this shall not bee If this be a right interpretation of this place and the other parallel to it in Saint z Joh. 20.17 John then Saint * Bernard de considerat
blessed Virgin the babe a Luke 1.41 sprang in the wombe of Elizabeth so I doubt not but that at the reading of this text in your eares the fruits of your devotion which are your religious thoughts and zealous affections leap and spring for joy in the wombe of your soule for now is the accepted time the time of grace now is the day of salvation the day of our Lords Incarnation As the golden tongued Father spake of a Martyr Martyrem dixisse laudâsse est to name a man a Martyr is to commend him sufficiently so it may be said of this text to rehearse it is to apply it I need not fit it to the time for the time falleth upon this time and the day upon this day now if ever is this Now in season If any time in all the yeere be more acceptable than other it is the holy time we now celebrate now is the accepted time on Gods part by accepting us to favour now is the day of salvation by exhibiting to us a Saviour in our flesh let us make it so on our parts also by accepting the grace offered unto us and by laying hands on our Saviour by faith and embracing him by love and by joy dilating our hearts to entertain him with all his glorious attendants a troupe of heavenly Souldiers singing b Luke 2.14 Glory be to God on high on earth peace and good will towards men c Esay 49.13 Sing O heavens and be joyfull O earth and breake forth into shouting O ye mountaines for God hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon the afflicted Keepe this holy day above others because chosen by God to manifest himselfe in the flesh bid by an Angell and by him furnished both with a lesson and with an Anthem also Well might the Angell as on this day sing glory in excelsis Deo c. for on this day the Son of God out of his good will towards men became man and thereby set peace on earth and brought infinite glory to God in the highest heavens Well may this be called by the Apostle d Gal. 4.4 The fulnesse of time or a time of fulnesse which filled heaven with glory the earth with blessings of peace and men with graces flowing from Gods good will The heavens which till this time were as clasped boxes now not able longer to containe in them the soveraigne balsamum of wounded mankind burst open and he whose name is e Cant. 1.3 an ointment poured forth was plentifully shed upon the earth to revive the decayed spirits and heale the festered sores of wounded mankind Lift up then your heavie lookes and heavier hearts yee that are in the midst of danger and in the sight nay within the claspes of eternall death you have a Saviour borne to rescue you Cheare up your drouping and fainting spirits all ye that feele the smart and anguish of a bruised conscience and broken heart to you Christ is borne to annoint your wounds bruises and sores Exult and triumph ye gally slaves of Satan and captives of Hell fast bound with the chaine of your sinnes to you a Redeemer is borne to ransome you from spirituall thraldome Two reasons are assigned why festivities are religiously to be kept 1. The speciall benefits of God conferred upon his Church at such times which by the anniversary celebration of the dayes are refreshed in our memories and visibly declared to all succeeding ages 2 The expresse command of God which adjoyned to the former reason maketh the exercises of devotion performed at these solemnities duties of obedience It cannot be denied that in this latter consideration those feasts which are set downe in the booke of God have some prerogative above those that are found wrtiten onely in the Calendar of the Church But in the former respect no day may challenge a precedencie of this no not the Sabbath it selfe which the more to honour him whose birth we now celebrate resigned both his name place and rites to the f Athanas hom de semenie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lords day and if we impartially compare them the worke wrought on this day was farre more difficult and the benefit received upon it greater than that to the memory whereof the Sabbath was at the first dedicated It was a greater miracle that God should be made a creature than that he should make all creatures and the redemption of the world so farre exceeds the creation as the means by which it was wrought were more difficult and the time larger the one was finished in sixe dayes by the commandement of God the other not in lesse than foure and thirty yeeres by the obedience of Christ the one was but a word with God the breath of his mouth gave life to all creatures the other cost him much labour sweat and bloud and what comparison is there betweene an earthly and an heavenly Paradise Nay if wee will judge by the event the benefit of our creation had beene none without our redemption For by it we received an immortall spirit with excellent faculties as it were sharpe and strong weapons wherewith wee mortally wounded our selves and had everlastingly laid weltring in our own blood had not our Saviour healed our wounds by his wounds and death and raised us up againe by the power of his resurrection To which point Saint Austine speaking feelingly saith Si natus non fuisset bonum fuisset si homo natus non fuisset If hee had not beene borne it had beene good for man never to have beene borne if this accepted time had not come all men had beene rejected if this day of salvation had not appeared wee had all perished in the night of eternall perdition Behold now is the accepted time In this Scripture as in a Dyall wee may observe 1 The Index 2 The Circles Certaine Behold Different 1 The larger 2 The narrower The accepted time The day of salvation To man in generall it is an accepted time to every beleever in particular it is a day of salvation Lynx cum cessat intueri cessat recordari Because we are like the Lynx which mindeth nothing no longer than her eye is upon it the Spirit every where calleth upon us to looke or behold Behold not alwayes or at any time but now not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not time simply but season the flower of time not barely accepted but according to the originall well accepted or most acceptable not the day of helpe or grace but a day of salvation As in the bodies which consist of similar parts the forme of the whole and the forme of every part is all one for example the whole ocean is but water and yet every drop thereof is water the whole land is but earth and yet every clod thereof is earth the
word of God as it is written which here I must change and say Hearken unto the word of God as it writeth For to the Angel of Thyatira the second Person which is the Word of God thus writeth Write It is a great honour to receive a letter from a noble Personage how much more from the Sonne of God St. d Eâ— 40. Quid est aliud Scripture sacra n â—i quaedam epistola Omnipotentis Dei ad creaturam suam Gregorie excellently amplifieth upon this point in his epistle to Theodorus the Physician If your excellencie saith he were from the Court and should receive a letter from the Emperour you would never be quiet till you had opened it you would never suffer your eyes to sleepe nor your eye lids to slumber nor the temples of your head to take any rest till you had read it over againe and againe Behold the Emperour of heaven the Lord of men and Angels hath sent you a letter for the good of your soule and will you neglect to peruse it Peruse it my son studie it I pray thee meditate upon it day and night Where letters passe one from another there is a kinde of correspondencie and societie and such honour have all Gods Saints they have fellowship with the Father and the Sonne O let us not sleighten such a societie whereby we hold intelligence with heaven let us with all reverence receive and with all diligence peruse and with all carefulnesse answer letters and messages sent from the Sonne of God by returning sighes and prayers backe to heaven and making our selves in the Apostles phrase commendatorie letters written not with inke but with the Spirit Thus saith the Son of God Not by spirituall regeneration as all the children of promise are the sonnes of God but by eternall generation not by grace of adoption but by nature Who hath eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brasse Eyes like a flame of fire piercing through the thickest darknesse feete like brasse to support his Chuch and stamp to pouder whatsoever riseth up against it like fine brasse pure and no way defiled by walking through the midst of the golden candlestickes Wheresoever he walkes he maketh it holy ground Quicquid calcaverit hic rosa fiet There are three sorts of members in holy Scripture attributed to our head Christ Jesus 1 Naturall 2 Mysticall 3 Metaphoricall Naturall hee hath as perfect man Mysticall as head of the Church Metaphoricall as God By these members wee may divide all the learned Commentatours expositions They who follow the naturall or literall construction of the words apply this description to the members of Christs glorified body in Heaven which shine like flaming fire or metall glowing in a furnace But Lyra and Carthusian have an eye to Christ his mysticall eyes viz. Bishops and Pastours who are the over-seers of Christ his flocke resembling fire in the heat of their zeale and light of their knowledge whereby they direct the feet of Christ that is in their understanding his inferiour members on earth likened to fine brasse to set forth the purity of their conversation and described burning in a furnace to expresse their fiery tryall by martyrdome Alcasar by the feet of fine brasse understandeth the Preachers of the Word whom Christ sendeth into all parts to carry the Gospel Those feet which e Esay 52.7 Rom. 10.15 How beautifull are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace Esay calleth beautifull Saint John here compareth to the finest brasse which f Beda in Apoc Pedes sunt Christiani in fine seculi qui similes erunt orichalcho quod est aes per ignem plura medicamina perductum ad auri colorem sic illi per acerbissimas persecutiones exercebuntur perducentur ad plenam charitatis fulgorem Beda and Haimo will have to bee copper rendring the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not the most resplendent brasse such as was digged out of Mount Libanus but Orichalchum that is copper and thus they worke it to their purpose As brasse the matter of copper by the force of fire and strong waters and powders receiveth the tincture of gold so say they the Christians that shall stand last upon the earth termed in that respect Christs feet shall by many exercises of their patience and fiery tryalls of their faith be purified and refined and changed into precious metall and become golden members of a golden head I doe not utterly reject this interpretation of the mysticall eyes and feet of Christ nor the former of the naturall members of his glorified body because they carry a faire shew and goodly lustre with them yet I more encline to the third opinion which referreth them to the attributes of God For me thinkes I see in the fiery eyes the perfection of Christ his knowledge to which nothing can bee darke or obscure as also his vigilant zeale over his Church and the fiercenesse of his wrath against the enemies thereof Bullenger conceiveth our Saviour to be pourtrayed by the Spirit with eyes like a flame of fire because hee enlighteneth the eyes of the godly but Meyerus because he suddenly consumeth the wicked both the knowne properties of fire for in flaming fire there is both cleare light and intensive heat The light is an embleme of his piercing sight the heat of his burning wrath Where the eye is lightsome and the object exposed to it the eye must needs apprehend it but the Sonne of Gods eyes are most lightsome nay rather light it selfe in which there is no darknesse and g Heb. 4 13. all things lye open and naked before him yea the h Apoc. 2.23 heart and the reines which he searcheth In Courts of humane justice thoughts and intentions and first motions to evill beare no actions because they come not within the walke of mans justice but it will not be so at Christs Tribunall where the secrets of all hearts shall be opened Let no man then hope by power or fraud or bribes to smother the truth or bleare the eyes of the Judge of all flesh For his eyes like flames of fire dispell all darknesse and carry a bright light before them Let not the adulterer watch for the twi-light and when hee hath met with his wanton Dalila carry her into the inmost roomes and locke doore upon doore and then take his fill of love saying The shadow of the night and the privacy of the roome shall conceale mee For though none else be by and all the lights be put out yet he is seen and the Sonne of God is by him with eyes like a flaming fire Let not the Projector pretend the publike good when he intends nothing but to robbe the rich and cheate the poore Let not the cunning Papist under colour of decent ornaments of the Church bring in Images and Idols under colour of commemoration of the deceased bring in invocation of Saints departed under colour
the blessing of Abraham might come upon us let us enter into the Arke of our confidence and the Spirit of Christ like Noahs Dove shall bring unto us an Olive branch glad tidings of peace and true signes of rest to our tempest-tossed consciences let us draw neare to God and he will draw neare to us let us goe to Christ and he will draw God neare unto us let us goe unto him in feare and reverence and he will embrace us in faith and confiâ—ence and he will receive us though we have beene prodigall and runnagate children he will receive us into his favour he will reconcile us to his Father he will salve our wounds hee will quiet our hearts hee will mitigate our feare of death and destruction and hee will imparadise us with himselfe in glorie everlasting The spirituall and morall interpretation of the Rehearsers text with a conclusion of the whole THus have I now at length presented to your spirituall view the brest-plate of Aaron decked richly with foure rowes of precious stones set in bosses of gold To the foure rowes I have compared the foure methodicall Sermons which yee have heard the Jewels in the rowes both to the parts of the Speakers and to their precious doctrine the embossement of gold to their texts a Orat. pro Cluent now because as Cepasius in Tullie postquam diu ex intimo artificio dixisset respicite respicite tandem respexit ipse so it hath beene the manner of the Rehearsers after they had fitly resembled the Preachers to make some resemblance of themselves and their office Sacra haec non aliter constant I intreat you right worshipfull men fathers and brethren not to think that I have so far forgotten modesty as to ranke my selfe with the meanest of the Jewels in these rowes nor the texture of my discourse to the embossements of gold wherein they were set yet not quite to change the allegory I finde among the Lapidaries a stone which seemes to me a fit embleme of a Rehearser it is no precious stone though it be reckoned with them by b Plin. l. 37. c. 9. Pliny and others because at some times it representeth the colours of the rainebow non ut in se habeat colores arcus coelestis sed ut repercussu parietum illidat the name of the stone is Iris whereunto I may make bold to compare my selfe because in some sort I have represented unto you the beautifull colours of these twelve precious stones as the Iris doth the colours of the Rainebow non per inhaerentiam sed per referentiam and therefore I reflect all the lustre splendour and glorie of them first upon Almighty God next upon the Jewels the Preachers themselves Pliny maketh mention of a strange c Nat. hist l. 2. c. 105. Pluvius in Hispania est qui omnes aurei coloris ostendit pisces nihil extra illam aquam caeteris differentes River in Spaine wherein all the fish while they swim in it have a golden colour but if you take them out of it nothing at all differ in colour from other in like manner I doubt not but that many things seemed excellent and truely golden in the torrent of the Preachers eloquence which taken out thence and exhibited to you in my rehearsall seeme but ordinary Howbeit the whole blame hereof lieth not upon me but a great part of it upon the very nature of this exercise to which it is d Mat. 3.3 essentiall to be defective The Preachers were voyces like St. John Baptist the Rehearser is but the Eccho Who ever expected of an Eccho to repeat the whole voyce or entire speech sufficient it is that it resound some of the last words and them imperfectly it implyeth a contradiction that a faire and goodly picture should be drawne at length in a short table e Quintil. instit orat l. 10. c. 2. Quicquid alteri simile est necesse est ut sit minus eo quod imitatur ut umbra corpore imago facie actus histrionum veris affectibus necesse est ut semper sit posterior qui sequitur The shadow alwayes comes short of the body the image of the face imitation of nature If I should have given due accents to each of their words and sentences I should long agoe have lost my spirits and I may truely say with St. Paul though in another sense f 2 Cor. 2.10 What I have spared herein for your sake have I spared as well as for mine owne to ease you of much trouble and now after a very short explication and application of mine owne text I will ease you of all g Joseph antiq Jud. l. 3. c. 8. Josephus worketh with his wit a glorious allegorie upon Aarons garments The Miter saith he represented the Heaven the two Onyxes the Sunne and Moone the foure colours in the embroidered Ephod the foure Elements the Girdle the Ocean the Bells and Pomegranates thundering and lightening in the aire the foure rowes of stones the foure parts of the yeare the twelve stones the twelve signes in the Zodiacke or the twelve moneths in the yeare St. h Ep. 128. Quatuor ordines quatuor puto esse virtutes Prudentiam Fortitudinem Justitiam Temperantiam c. Jerome taketh the foure rowes for the foure cardinall vertues which subdivided into their severall species make up the full number of twelve Although I dare not with Origen runne ryot in allegories yet I make no question but that we ought to conceive of the Ephod not as of a vestment onely covering the Priests breast but as of a holy type or figure vailing under it many celestiall mysteries and esteeme the stones set in these rowes upon the Ephod as precious or rather more in their signification than they are in their nature In which respect they may be termed after a sort so many glorious Sacraments sith they are visible signes of invisible mysteries which I am now to declare unto you St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrewes proveth manifestly Aaron to be a type of Christ his actions of Christs passion whereunto we may adde his ornaments of Christs offices Kingly Priestly and Propheticall For he is our Hermes Trismegistus Mercurius Termaximus Hermes because he is the Interpreter and Declarer of Gods will and Trismegistus that is thrice greatest because he is the greatest King the greatest Priest and the greatest Prophet that ever came into the world The Mitre Diadem-like compassed as Josephus writeth with three circles like a triple Crowne apparently seemeth to me to prefigure the Kingly office of our Saviour whereby he sitteth gloriously in the heart of all the Elect ruling them by the golden Scepter of his word As evidently the front-plate of pure gold engraven with holinesse to the Lord and breast-plate with Urim and Thummim representeth Christs Priestly function according to which he beareth the twelve Tribes representing all his Elect before God for a remembrance
care of keeping and feare of losing and expectation of punishment for ill getting them by tyranny exaction oppression forged cavillation fraud simony or sacriledge no place is left for any joy or comfort in possessing or well using them 4. By putting the seeming profits and advantages of sinne in one scale and the losses and disadvantages by it in the other which being done the scale of dammages and losses will beare downe to the ground nay to hell In all bargaines we are to consider not so much what the commodity is we trade or trafficke for as what the price is for though the merchandize we bargaine for be of great value yet if we must over-buy it giving for it an unreasonable rate the bargaine cannot be good By which rule if we examine our trafficke we shall find that if wee hold on our trade with Sathan our merchandize will no way countervaile our charge our gaines in the beginning will be no way answerable to our losses in the end for we shall lose the inheritance of a Kingdome in heaven and our owne soules Unfruitfulnesse shamefulnesse and deadlinesse are three proper adjuncts and as the Logicians usually speake passions of sinne For all sinne is mortall that is deserving death and nothing is mortall in that sense but sinne all sinne is shamefull and nothing shamefull but sinne all sinne is unfruitfull and nothing absolutely is unfruitfull but sinne The Serpents feed upon and consume that poysonous matter which otherwise would infect the earth water and ayre Physicians make treakle and antidotes of poyson the ashes of a Viper the oyle of a Scorpion the wings of the Cantharides are soveraigne remedies against the poyson of those Serpents yea the very doung of the earth serveth for very good use and fatteneth the ground onely sinne as it is deprived of the good of being a nature so it depriveth nature of all good If any things come neere to sinne in this they are the grapes of Gomorrah and apples of Sodome which have no taste at all in them but as soone as they are touched fall to dust and the dust is of that nature that it serves not as doung to fatten the earth but rather as unsavoury salt which maketh it barren All the endeavours operations of nature when they are not set out of their course by sinne forcibly tend to some good and obtaine it also For if they produce not and leave behind them some worke the worth whereof may recompence the labour about it yet the very contention and exercise of the faculty breedeth a dexterity and facility of doing the like it perfecteth the skill strengtheneth the faculty accommodateth the organ and thereby maketh the whole body more serviceable to the soule and the soule better disposed to vertuous acts and habits The Archer who often misseth the marke set before his eyes yet in some sort hitteth the marke he aimed at in his mind which was the exercise of his arme and learning to shoot As the sons of the husbandman in the fable who being told by their father lying on his death-bed that he left much gold buried under the ground in his Vineyard fell on delving and digging all about the Vines and though they found no gold yet by stirring the mold about the rootes of the trees gained a great vintage that yeere even so it falleth out in the labours and travells of our calling though by them wee reape not alwayes that profit we expect yet thereby wee may manure if I may so speake the ground of our hearts and gaine great store of those fruits which the branches that are graffed into the true Vine Christ Jesus beare But in sinfull labours and travells it fareth otherwise they are not as moderate exercises which strengthen but as violent fits which weaken nature Sinne in the understanding darkeneth the thoughts in the will depraveth the desires in the sensitive appetite disordereth the affections in the outward sense corrupteth the organs and in the whole body breedeth loathsome and painfull diseases Sinne is not only unfruitfull to speake in the language of the Schooles formaliter but also effectivè not only unfruitfull in it selfe as the d Mat. 21.19 figge-tree in the Gospel cursed by our Saviour but also in its effects as that other tree which was to be plucked up ne terram redderet infructuo sam that it might not make the ground e Luke 13.7 barren For sinne maketh the spirit barren of the fruit of good motions the understanding barren of the fruit of good meditations the will barren of the fruit of good resolutions the sensitive appetite barren of the fruit of good affections the whole man barren of the fruit of good works nay the earth and trees also barren of their fruit and increase For the sinne of man God cursed the earth and it f Gen. 3.18 brought forth thornes and thistles and the heaven and skie also and it became as g Deut. 28.23 iron over mens heads the experience whereof brought the Heathen to acknowledge this truth h Senec. in Oedip Sperare poteras sceleribus tantis Dare regnum salubre Fecimus coelum nocens Our sinnes have tainted the influence of the starres dryed up the clouds infected the ayre blasted the fruits of the earth And Claudian in his investive against Eutropius Quae connubia prolem Aut frugem laturus ager quid fertile terris Aut plenum stirili possit sub consule nasci Is it possible any thing should thrive or flourish under the shade of such a Consul Saint i Advers Demet Quereris quod minus nunc tibi uberes fontes aurae salubres frequens pluvia fertilis terra obsequium praebeant quod non ita utilitatibus voluptatibus tuis elementa deserviant Tu enim Deo servis per quem tibi cuncta deserviunt Tu famularis illi cujus nutu tibi unviersa famulantur Cyprian also attributeth the great dearth in his time to the want of charity and the sterility of fruits in the earth to the sterility of fruits of righteousnesse Thou complainest that the springs are not so full the ayre so healthy the showers so frequent the earth so fruitfull as in former time thou thinkest much that the elements are not so obsequious to thee as they have been that they serve not thy profit and pleasure Why art thou so obsequious to God Doest thou serve him by whose appointment all these things serve thee As it was the manner of the Persians when a noble person committed a fault to beat his clothes in stead of him so it pleaseth our most indulgent Father when the noblest of his creatures men his children offend often for them to punish the beasts of the field and fruits of the earth which feed and clothe them As he threatneth k Deut. 28.38 39 40. Thou shalt carry out much seed into the field and shalt gather but little for the Locusts shall consume it
them What Christ speaketh of riches may be said of the rest If honours if promotions if all sorts of worldly comforts abound to us let us not set our hearts on them let us neither accept the greatest preferments with his curse nor repine at the greatest afflictions with his love As Fabritius told Pyrrhus who one day tempted him with gold and the next day sought to terrefie him with an Elephant which before he had never seen Yesterday I was no whit moved with your gold nor to day with your beast So let neither abundance transport us nor wants dismay us neither prosperity exalt us nor adversity deject us but both incite us to blesse God In prosperity to praise his bounty and in adversity his justice and in both his provident care over us And the Lord of his infinite mercy informe us by his Word of the true estimate of the things of this life that we neither over-value earthly blessings nor under-value crosses and afflictions that we be neither lifted up with the one nor depressed with the other but alwayes even ballanced with his love And because the bitter cup of trembling cannot passe but first or last we must all drinke it let us beseech him to sweeten it unto us and strengthen us with cordialls of comfort that we faint not under his rod but endure with patience what he inflicteth in love and overcome with courage what he suffered for love that following his obedience and bearing his crosse we may enter his Kingdome and weare his Crowne Cui c. THE LOT OF THE GODLY THE XLVIII SERMON APOC. 3.19 As many as I love I rebuke and chasten Right Honourable c. I Have discovered unto you in the opening of this Text foure springs of the rivers of Paradise for the comfort and refreshing of all that are heavie laden and wearied in their travell to the celestiall Canaan and often scorched with the heat of heart-burning sorrowes and griefe The first arising from the authour of afflictions The second from the nature of afflictions The third from the subject of afflictions The fourth from the end of afflictions 1. God sendeth afflictions I. 2. Afflictions are chastenings chasten 3. Chastenings are the lot of all his children as many 4. All his children thus chastened are beloved as I love 1. God hath a hand in the scourging his children I. Let us therefore 1. Submit under his mighty hand in patience 2. Lay our hand on our mouth in silence 3. Lift up our hands to him and in prayer turne to him that smiteth us 2. All our sufferings are chastenings of our heavenly Father for our amendment Let us therefore 1. Be instructed by them 2. Take comfort in them 3. Be thankfull for them 3. Chastenings are the lot of all Gods children therefore let 1. None repine at them 2. All looke and prepare for them 4. God striketh his children not in anger but in love therefore let us 1. Seeke to be of the number of his children 2. Embrace his love 3. In like manner chasten those whom we love The water of the two former springs we have tasted heretofore let us now draw out of the third which is so great and spacious that all Gods children may bathe in it together As many God scourgeth every sonne whom he receiveth not exempting his best beloved and only begotten Sonne For the * Esay 53.5 chastisement of our peace was laid upon him he was chastened for our sinnes but wee for our amendment In every part of Gods floore there is some chaffe affliction is the fanne to cleanse it in all the gold of the Sanctuary there is some drosse affliction is the fire that purgeth it in all the branches of the true Vine there are some superfluous stems affliction is the pruning knife to cut them off in all the members of the mysticall body there are some peccant humours affliction is the pill to purge them We are all too greedy of the sweet milke of worldly pleasures therefore God weaneth us from them by annointing the teat with wormwood When the Angel in the a Apoc. 14.17 Apocalypse had recorded all the troubles and calamities and miseries that should fall in the last times he closeth up all with this epiphonema Here is the patience of the Saints as if the Saints were to beare them all who certainly beare the greater part For besides common evills in which most men if not all have their part though usually Benjamins portion is the greatest I meane losse of goods decease of friends captivity banishment imprisonment sicknesse and death there are many heavie crosses laid upon the Saints of God which the children of the world never see and much lesse feele the weight of them Many have written learnedly of the divers sorts and formes of materiall crosses wherewith the bodies of Gods children have been tortured by persecuting Tyrants but none yet hath or as I am perswaded can describe the spirituall crosses wherewith many of them have been and are daily martyred in minde I will set five before you and let every one adde his owne particular crosse unto them they are 1. Derision 2. Indignation 3. Compassion 4. Spirituall desertions 5. Godly sorrow 1. Derision for as Ismael derided Isaac and as Michol scoffed at David so they that are b Gal. 4.29 borne of the flesh mocke at them that are borne of the spirit and this scorne and derision so grievously afflicted many of Gods children that it is called in Scripture c Heb. 11.36 persecution and a great triall Others had triall of cruell mockings and as he that was borne of the flesh persecuted him that was borne of the spirit so it is now 2. Indignation at the prosperity of the wicked which was a great eye-sore as wee heard before to d Job 21.7 8 9.10.11 12 13. Job e Psal 73.3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12. David and f Jer. 12.2 Jeremy 3 Compassion for the miseries of Gods chosen 2 Cor. 11.28 29. 4 The state of spirituall desertion when God seemeth for a time to withdraw the comforts of the Spirit from them Psal 22.1 2. 5 Godly sorrow when they are cast downe to the ground with the weight of their sinne and have a quicke sense and feeling of the displeasure of their heavenly Father The three former scourges draw many teares from their eyes but the two latter life-blood from their hearts and if God stayed not his hand and in the depth of their sorrowes refreshed them with comforts they could not but be swallowed up in the gulfe of despaire For the more a man feareth God and is sensible of his love the more tender hee is to beare his wrath and the tenderer hee is the arrowes of God pierce deeper and sticke faster in the soule which none can plucke out but hee that shot them g Ovid. de trist l 1. Qui vulnera fecit Solus Achilleo tollere more potest The reprobate
hand and giveth them a stay in the next clause onely use not liberty for an occasion unto the flesh Lest any presumptuous sinner should lay hold on the hornes of the Altar and claspe about that gracious promise i Tit. 2.11 The grace of God that bringeth salvation unto all men hath appeared he beateth off their fingers in the next verse teaching us that denying ungodlinesse and worldly lusts wee should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world In like manner lest any should * 2 Pet. 3.16 wrest the former verse of this Prophet as they doe the other Scriptures to the building forts of presumption but to the apparent ruine of their owne soules the Prophet forcibly withstandeth them in the words of my text But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousnesse c. The life of a Christian is not unfitly compared to a long and dangerous sea voyage the sea is this present world the barkes are our bodies the sailers our soules the pylot our faith the card Gods Word the rudder constancie the anker hope the maine mast the crosse of Christ the strong cables our violent affections the sailes our desires and the holy Spirit the good winde which filleth the sailes and driveth the barke and marriners to the faire k Act. 27.8 haven which is heaven Now in our way which lyeth through many temptations and tribulations there are two dangerous rockes the one on the right hand the other on the left the rock on the right hand to be avoided is presumption the rock on the left threatning shipwracke is despaire betweene which we are to steere our ship by feare on the one side and hope on the other To hold us in a solicitous feare that we touch not upon presumption let us have alwayes in the eye of our minde 1 The glorious and most omnipotent majesty of God 2 His all-seeing providence 3 His impartiall justice 4 His severe threatnings against sinne 5 The dreadfull punishments hee inflicteth upon sinners 6 The heinousnesse of the sin of presumption which turneth Gods grace into wantonnesse 7 The difficulty of recovery after relapses 8 The uncertainty of Gods offer of grace after the frequent refusall thereof To keepe us in hope that wee dash not upon the rocke of despaire on the contrary side let us set before our troubled and affrighted consciences these grounds of comfort 1 The infinitenesse of Gods mercy 2 The price and value of Christs blood 3 The efficacy of his intercession 4 The vertue of the Sacraments 5 The universality and certainty of Gods promises to the penitent 6 The joy of God and Angels for the conversion of a sinner 7 The communion of Saints who all pray for the comfort of afflicted consciences and the ease of all that are heavie laden with their sinnes 8 The examples of mercy shewed to most grievous sinners Upon these grounds the contrite penitent may build strong forts of comfort after this manner My sins though they be more in number than the heires of my head yet they are finite whereas Gods mercy is every way infinite if my debt bee as a thousand my Saviours merits are as infinite millions And not onely Gods mercy but his justice also pleads for my pardon for it is against justice that the same debt should be twice paid to require a full ransome from my Redeemer and expect it from my selfe I l â— Joh. 1.9 confesse my sinnes and therefore I know he is faithfull and just to forgive mee my sinnes and cleanse mee from all my unrighteousnesse One drop of the blood of the Sonne of God was a sufficient price for the ransome of many worlds and shall not such store of it spinning from his temples dropping from his hands gushing out of his side and trickling from all parts of his body both in the garden and in the High Priests Hall satisfie for one poore soule that preferreth his love even before heaven it selfe All my sinnes are either originall or actuall the guilt of originall is taken away in baptisme and as often as I have received the blessed Sacrament a generall pardon was tendred unto mee for all my other sinnes and the seale delivered into my hands What though God will not heare the prayers of such a sinner as I am yet he will heare the prayers of Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for my sinnes I acknowledge to my hearts griefe and sorrow that neither faith nor hope nor any other divine vertue beareth any sensible fruit in mee for the present yet the seed of my regeneration remaineth in mee And as the blind man knew that his sight began to be restored to him even by the defect he found in it when he thought he m Mark 8.24 saw men walke like trees so even by this I know that I am not utterly destitute of grace because I feele and unfainedly bewaile the want of it If there were no heavenly treasure in mee Satan would not so often and so furiously assault mee for theeves besiege not much lesse breake open those houses where they are perswaded nothing is to be found The greater my sorrow is for my sinne and my spirituall desertion the greater is my hope for the spirit maketh intercession for the sonnes of God n Rom. 8.26 with groaning which cannot be expressed None were cured by the brazen Serpent which before had not beene stung by the fiery neither doth Christ promise ease unto any but to those that feele themselves heavie burdened But to confine my meditations to the letter of my text Before ye heard Repent you of your sinnes and you shall surely live God pawneth his life for it therefore despaire not how grievous soever your sinnes be But now I am to tell you plainly if you repent you of your repentance and turne from righteousnesse to sinne and end your dayes in that state you shall surely die eternally therefore presume not how compleate soever your former righteousnesse seeme to have beene In these two verses are implyed a double conversion 1 From evill to good 2 From good to evill To turne from evill is good from good is evill the former is repentance upon which I spent my last discourse the later is relapse or apostacie against which I am now to bend all my forces But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquity c. in the transgression which he hath transgressed and in the sinne which he hath sinned in them hee shall surely die The contents of this verse are like the Prophet Jeremies figges of which wee read that the bad were exceeding bad for in the antecedent or fore-part we have apostacie that totall and in the hinder part or consequent death and that finall The words divide themselves into first a supposition When or if the righteous forsake secondly an inference his former righteousnesse shall not be remembred c. The supposition is dangerous the
and the effects of it no sinne without sorrow What say you then to them that have their conscience q 1 Tim. 4.2 seared as with an hot iron they surely feele no paine What sense have they of the guilt of sinne of Gods wrath who are cast into a reprobate sense I would the case were as rare as the answer unto it is easie and expedite Admit a seared conscience feeleth no paine was not the searing of it thinke you a paine The heart that is like the anvile and now hardened for the purpose felt many a blow and endured many fearfull stroaks before it came to be so Although Mithridates in the end felt little hurt or pain by drinking poyson yet before he brought his body to that temper he never tooke any draught of poyson but it was both painfull and perillous to him A man must needs have many conflicts within him many terrours and unsufferable troubles of minde before he be utterly deprived of all sense by the frequencie and vehemencie of his torments and though those that are cast into a reprobate sense never after come to repentance yet God oftentimes restoreth them to their sense of sorrow and sight of the uglinesse of their sinne and horrour of their punishment that even in this life they might tast of eternall death As he did to Nero when in a fit of desperation he cryed out Have I no friend nor enemy to rid me out of my paine And Julian the Apostata who tare his bowels and flung them into the aire saying Vicisti Galilee Brutus r Plutar. in vit Brut. Iterum me Philippis videbis his malus genius the ghost that haunted him at Rome though for the present it left him yet it met with him againe at Philippi a little before his death So those terrours and consternations of minde which possessed the wicked before their consciences were seared though for many yeares they leave them yet a little before or at the time of their death they returne againe in more violent manner and so they passe from death to death from sorrow to sorrow nay I may say truly from hell to hell But why do I stand so long upon this sorrow which may be without repentance because repentance cannot be without it Compunction doth not alwaies end in godly sorrow but godly ever begins in it This compunction of pricking the heart deepe is like the digging the earth to set the seeds of faith and repentance and all the slippes of the flowers of Paradise or the needles making a hole in the cloth or stuffe the needle fils not up the bracke or rent but the threed or silke but onely it maketh entrance for them So the pricking the heart with the needle of ſ Calv. in Act. Hoc poenitentiae initium est imo ad pietatem ingressus tristitiam ex peccatis nostris concipere ac malorum nostrorum sensu vulnerari quādiù enim securi sunt homines fieri non potest ut seriò animum attendant ad doctrinam sed compunctioni accedere debet promptitudo ad parendum Compuncti fuerunt Cain Judas sed obstitit desperatio quo minùs se Deo subjicerent nam mens horrore occupata nihil aliud quam fugere Deum potest compunction maketh way for the graces of faith and true repentance which make up the rent and mend our lives Beloved if ye are pricked in heart for your sinnes I cannot say it is well with you but if ye have never beene pricked for them I must say it is very ill with you The Philosophers distinguish of a double heate 1 Inward and naturall which preserveth life 2 Outward or ambient which disposeth mist bodies to putrefaction by drawing the other heat t Mercenar l. de Putred cont Erast Putredo est eductio caloris naturalis à calore ambiente out of them In like manner there is a double sorrow for sinne 1 A sorrow arising from an inward cause the consideration of the goodnesse of God and the malignancie of sinne the equity of the law the iniquity of our transgressions and this is a seed of or degree unto repentance unto life 2 A sorrow for sinne arising from an outward cause the expectation of dreadfull punishments for sinne both in this life and the life to come both temporall and eternall and this if it be not asswaged with some hope disposeth a sinner to desperation as wee see in Cain Esau and Judas whose sorrowes were not any way medicinall but penall No meanes to prevent but rather to assure hellish torments being a kind of earnest of them Cain was pricked in heart for the murther of his brother Abel in such sort that hee filled the aire wheresoever he fled with this lamentable cry My u Gen. 4.13 punishment is greater than I can beare Esau would have redeemed his birthright with a large cup of * Heb. 12.17 teares which he sold for a small messe of pottage but his teares were spilt upon the ground not put into the Lords bottle Judas had sorrow enough if that would have helped him for to stifle his hearts griefe hee strangled himselfe and no doubt he long swelled with paine before he burst asunder x Act. 4.18 in the midst and his bowels gushed out Wherefore as the Apostle Saint Paul in another case exhorteth the Thessalonians so let mee exhort you to weepe for your sins but not y 1 Thes 4.13 as those that have no hope Sorrow for your sinfull joyes humble your selves for your pride fast for your luxurie watch for your drowsinesse howle and crie for your crying sinnes yet not as those that are without hope For if the Jewes here who spilt the blood of the Sonne of God were quickned by it how much more shall they that wash Christs wounds and their owne with their teares find in his bloud the balme of Gilead to cure their pricked hearts and wounded consciences But then as the Jewes here they must bee solicitous after the meanes They must enquire of the Apostles or their successours Quid faciemus What shall wee doe if not to undoe what wee have done yet to make some part of amends so much as wee can and which through Gods goodnesse shall so be taken of us that our sinnes shall not be imputed to us And they said What shall wee doe Saint Chrysostome well observeth that they aske not How shall we bee saved but What shall wee doe It is presumptuous folly to enquire of or hope for the end if wee neglect the meanes If a man might goe to heaven with a sigh many a Balaam would be found there for hee fetched a deepe sigh saying Let mee die the death of the righteous If crying The Temple of the Lord or saying Lord Lord almost at every word would without any more adoe make a man free of the heavenly Jerusalem all the Pharisees among the Jewes and hypocrites among Christians should bee denisons