the Nations still in the third person as if they were Branches to be cut from the Stocke wherein they were ingrafted and henceforth to remaine Aliens to his fauour neuer to be acquainted with him or any thing of his but his Anger and punishments But his Anger endures but a while In his fauour is life so gracious a LORD hee had euer beene to them that hee could neuer forget that they were his people How like his owne people did he truely vse them when they were vnder Pharaohs bondage where euery lash that was giuen them seem'd to strike him and how did he double all those Stripes vpon Pharaohs backe How did he afterwards load them with Courtesies because they were his people How did hee feede them with foode from his Table such as they knew not neither did their Fathers know How did he bring them thorow the waters of the great Deepe and thorow the Red Sea as thorow a Wildernesse Yet was not Gratitude for all these fauours so truly planted in their deprau'd hearts but they made a Molten Calfe an Idolattrous Sharer in his honour If euer they were not to be accounted his people and their names neuer to bee registred more in his thoughts now was the time they should haue beene blotted out when such worms not worthy to crawle before his Throne should dare to vrge God himself with their vpbraiding murmurs yet euen then a word from his Seruant Moses mouth to put him in mind that they were his people easily reconciles him and hee shewes that hee had wrote them vpon the palmes of his hands and not forgot them when the Mother hath forgot her sucking Child Hee was euer wont to reioyce in the Title of being a Lord to his people for as if his Loue had shut vp all his Care for one Familie alone and onely they should partake of it hee calls himselfe the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Iacob as if hee meant onely to bee their Lord and they should onely be his people Some of his seruants haue desired to belong to him with the same singularity of dutie as hee hath own'd them with a singular affection The man after his owne heart expresses him in Attributes most pleasing to him Domine Deus meus O Lord my God The Disciple whose doubting faith hath made ours so strong that it ought not to doubt when the wounds in his side had assur'd him who hee was he cryes out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Lord and my God At the same time that happy sinner seekes this Lord with the same appropriating termes They haue taken away Dominum meum my Lord neither shame for his late reproachfull Death nor feare to belong to so contemn'd a Man as he was made her to let fall her Relation but still My Lord. Some of his then haue been willing to dwell vnder the shaddow of his wings as he was to entertaine them into his seruice and ready to acknowledge him for their Lord as he to call them his people His people we are all content to goe for whil'st he conferr's fauours vpon vs whil'st he opens vnto vs the windowes of Heauen and powres forth blessings that there is not roome inough to hold them But like peremptorie Minions who hauing long enioy'd the fauour of their Prince and finding themselues crost but in some one Suit they forget all the good turnes that were heap't vpon them before Antiquiora beneficia subuertit qui eadem posterioribus non cumulat none will any longer bee his people then his hand of bounty is open to them Not onely his people in generall but his chiefest Seruants haue vs'd him so his Psalmist his King whom he tooke from the Sheep-fold and preuenting him with all good things set vpon his head a Crowne of gold Then he would bee his seruant Then he awakes his Psaltery and Harpe and himselfe would awake right early Then hee summons the Heauens and the Heights the Angels and Hosts Dragons and Deepe all must helpe him to praise the Name of the Lord for himselfe was resolu'd to doe it for euer and euer Yet in another place hee sees but the wicked flourish he sees GOD as hee thinkes shew a little fauour to them that were not his owne people sees that they are not in trouble like other men nor plagu'd like other men forthwith all that God had done for him That he had so often heard him out of his Holy Hill that hee had beene his glorie and the lifter vp of his head yet hee tooke ill counsell in his soule daily and accuseth his carefull Lord of such peruerse forgetfulnesse as to be a continued Patron of Strangers who neuer acknowledg'd themselues his and to take no notice of his best and most obsequious seruants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though wee may euery where find this Lord yet if we looke vpon him with carnall eyes we shall hardly discern him to be the Lord of his people but rather of the vngodly who oftentimes in farre more plenty enioy his outward bounties then his owne people His people must not looke to spread themselues and flourish like a greene Bay tree to swimme alwayes vpon smooth streames When Christ himselfe had once in his company his Apostles all the poore Familie that he had all his people the Winds and the Waters set vpon the Ship where he and his people were for had there beene a continuall calme they could not so certainely haue knowne him for their Lord who both then and since reads to all his people many Lectures of himselfe his Glory his Omnipotency But alas they rather pose vs then instruct vs by all them we only know that we can neuer sufficiently know him not the least handy-worke of his One Schoole onely GOD hath where most perfectly wee shall learne what he is That Schoole is the Graue to which heere hee sets his people where they shall truely know him to be the Lord by those acts of his power by opening Graues and bringing vp out of Graues This is one of the vnlikeliest places that euer man went to learne any knowledge in especially the knowledge of the Lord. The Psalmist tels GOD That was no place for him to be knowne in quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui In death there is no remembrance of thee and in the Graue who shall giue thee thanks He seconds it in the 30. Psalme verse 9. Quae vtilitas in sanguine meo What profit is there in my blood O Lord When I goe downe into the Pit shall the Dust praise thee shall it declare thy Truth Yes sure A blessed Apostle could well thinke of no other Librarie to studie for his chiefe Lesson in to know Iesus Christ and him crucified but the Graue His Bookes must be meditations of the Carkases laid in their Graues his fellow-students Wormes his writing-tables
Hieroms complaint in his time Sola Ars Scripturarum Ars est omnium In no other Profession can any man set vp before he haue seru'd a set number of yeeres but in the knowing of the Lord euery man will bee a Doctor of the Chaire before euer he saw the Diuinity-Schoole We ought I confesse all to wish as Moses did Would God that all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit vpon them but let them bee enricht with Moses gifts too who was skilfull in all the learning of the Egyptians for otherwise although it were Moses charity to wish such a generall blessing 't was Gods wisdome not to grant it It is indeed true That to know the Lord and his saluation the Scripture affords light enough and Diuinity needs not to adde to her immortall beauty by any borrowed painting yet you shall see that when Saint Paul vndertooke to make the Corinthians know who was the Lord hee profest a wealthy variety of much other knowledge besides the Scripture and thankes God for it that hee spake with Tongues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more then all they did and able he was to cite their owne Poets among the then learned Athenians and to apply a Satyricall Verse out of Epimenides to reprehend the lying gluttonous and bestiall manners of the Cretians His powerfull language so rauish't the Lystrians in the 14. of the Acts that hee gain'd the repute of Mercury amongst them and questionlesse the sitting so long at the feet of Gamaliel made him vas electionis a vessell fit to hold that diuine Treasure which the Holy Ghost powr'd into him not that he or any other Messenger of God did euer vse to thrust themselues into a Wildernesse of Diuinity amongst Thornes and Bushes suffering euery Bramble to teare off part of that Golden Fleece which can neuer safely bee carried out of such Thickets Therefore the Psalmist tooke a direct Method in learning to know this Lord hee lookes vpon the booke of Experience which was the onely volume God himselfe open'd in Paradise written like the Booke in the Reuelation within and on the backside The Heauens declare the Glorie of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy workes and so out of euery Star could he take notes by which he might learne who was this Lord. Opus fecit quod opificem visibilitate sui manefestauit saith the Master out of St. Ambrose The inuisible workman may be known by his visible worke The beauty of Heauen The Glorie of the Starres an Ornament giuing light in the highest places of the Lord at the commandement of the Holy one they will stand in their order and neuer faint in their watches Thus the Sonne of Sirach would make the Vniuerse our Vniuersitie where we might perfect our soules in experimentall knowledge sufficient to vnderstand the power of Him that made all this All first of nothing Accedat quaecunque vis creatura et faciat tale Coelum et Terram dicam quia Deus est if these helps will not make vp our obseruation full Iob will direct vs to plainer Masters Interroga iumenta docebunt te Aske now the Beasts and they shall teach thee and the Fowles of the ayre and they shall tell thee or speake to the Earth and it shall teach thee and the Fishes of the Sea shall declare vnto thee Who knoweth not all these things that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this By the perpetuity of these creatures wee may know the eternitie of their Creator by their immensity his omnipotency by the ordering of them the wisdome of him Yet hath the Deuill so fascinated the eyes of many that in stead of knowing GOD by these his workes they haue mistaken many of his workes for their gods How commonly haue some esteem'd the strong man in the Firmament the Sun for the Sunnes Creator who could he haue spoken would haue answer'd them like the Angell in the Reuelation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see thou doe it not for I am thy fellow-seruant and of thy Brethren Thus the willing yet impiously-deuout Heathen made their vnhappy Piety rather to be a crime then such blinded adoration to be esteem'd knowledge of this Lord. Where was that immortall Soule that Image of the sacred Trinity Where all the Faculties of that Soule Apprehension Iudgement and Discourse Nay where are they yet in the greatest and most parts of the world I desire not to dwell vpon so vnnecessarie a point as many may thinke the knowledge of God to be in this Sun-shine of the Gospell yet some I am sure that this day heare mee haue beene in parts and amongst people who can no more see this Lord then a blind man is able to discerne the Sunne at noone where amongst obseruing many Monsters in their Trauels the greatest Monster Sea or Earth affords is the ignorance of this Lord not yet knowne to the mightiest Monarkes vpon earth Let me beseech you who-euer you are that dedicate your selues to treade the vntrackt paths of the Sea and negotiate with remote Kingdomes either for the Gold of Ophir or the Spices of Arabia to carry with you along for Exchange if it be possible but not to forgoe it your selues this Merchandise sold at so low a rate now with vs The knowledge of this Lord. Let euery one of your liues be a Taper to the darkned vnderstandings of the Heathen by which they may at least see that you know the Lord for to you to you only doth he beare this loue of you onely hee hath this fatherly care that hee would bee knowne to bee the Lord of you his people for you shall know that I am the Lord O my people you are the persons to whom he would be knowne his people Did euer Father in more faire termes entertain the dearest Treasures of his bloud then God doth here his people A people who in the Chapter 〈◊〉 had awaken'd his vnwilling wrath himselfe saies of them When the house of Israel dwelt in their owne Land they defiled it by their owne wayes and by their doings wherefore I powred forth my fury vpon them And who would not haue still lookt for burning from his lips and Coales of fire from his nostrils yet he presently forgets to be angry scattered they were but they shall not straggle long as sheep without a Shepheard for he will againe be their Lord and they shall be his people His people by order of Creation all people are many blessings and benefits doe all Nations Kingdomes and people receiue from him But saith Bernard tanquam proprium eum habent singuli Electorum where he beares a selected and neere affection there he stiles himselfe and them by a more deare and peculiar Title O my people He spoke to them before in termes of strangenesse They defiled their own way effudi eos in Gentes I haue scatter'd them among
feare but to call vs to him with a Religious hope Flagellat omnem filium quem amat saith Saint Austin he chastens all the sonnes whom he loues yes we may truely say All for hee had one Son fine peccato non tamen sine flagello who neuer deseru'd a stripe and yet he felt many How was he faine to driue vs All to his Temple not long since How did a few strokes sinke vs vpon our knees Lift vp our wearied hands Exalt our tyr'd voyces Turne our heads into Fountaines our eyes into Streames And all our selues for a time into so many Saints How did we come to him with hearty groanes Deuout thoughts Sobbing Breasts Humble Knees Serious Cryes Charming Tongues Emphaticke Prayers and aboue all a full Resolution of Amendment All which hee listen'd to with such a pleas'd Attention that he caus'd the Minister of his Iustice to put vp the Sword of vengeance with a hand of Mercy shuts those Graues that he found open and so all we that stand here this day and many thousands more are as men brought vp out of our Graues and may know that he is the Lord and that wee his people ought for euer to praise him in the great Congregation who thus hath brought vs out of our Graues And brought you vp out of your Graues Neuer did the penne of the Almighty either from his owne mouth so truely speake himselfe when he seal'd Moses Commission with his name Iehouah I am that I am Nor by any powerfull Act so proue himselfe nor by any Hieroglyphicke so deliniate himselfe as by this last Particle by bringing vp out of our Graues The Sonne of Sirach imployes all the Rhetoricke he hath to set out the Omnipotency of this Lord from the Rainbow first which hee bids vs looke vpon and praise him that made it very beautifull it is in the brightnesse thereof it compasseth the heauens about with a Glorious Circle And the hands of the Most high hath bended it Then he directs vs to the Meteors Lightning Thunder then to his Treasures from whence the Cloudes flye forth as Fowles and the hoare Frost is powr'd as Salt vpon the earth which the North winde congealeth into yee and cloatheth the waters as with a Brestplate Can Diuinity assume more then that pen giues it Yes the Holy Ghost tels vs of a Creature in the Sea whom he calls Regem super omnes filios superbiae The King of all the children of pride The Leuiathan Lay thy hand vpon him remember the Battell doe no more who can discouer the face of his Garment Or who can can come to him with his double bridle Who can open the doores of his face his Teeth are terrible round about You shall neuer find Gods owne pen dropping vpon this Creature but euen the Creator as pleas'd with his owne worke is againe ready to cry out as at the first Valdè bonum letting it breathe forth his praise as it doth the Ocean out of his Nostrils Yet this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this wonder at which all other wonders may iustly wonder must not cannot shew him so maruellous in our eyes as by the promise that he here meanes to make himselfe known by to his people by bringing of them vp out of their Graues Downe with your Scepters all Monarkes vpon earth fall at his feet you heauenly powers that attend his Throne for you may all here vse Dauids words Non nobis Domine non nobis Not vnto vs O Lord not vnto vs but vnto thee onely belongs the power to bring vp out of the Graue This Prerogatiue vnshar'd to any doth God euer keep to himselfe I wound and I heal I kill and I make aliue for Quis Deus nisi Dominus who can bring frō the Graue but our God He neuer delegated his dearest seruant in this Ability his seruant Moses so often stil'd his seruant imploid to deliuer his people from Pharoahs Bondage and therefore was arm'd for a time with many miracles made able to turne his Rod into a Serpent and his Serpent againe into a Rod could at his pleasure call for Flyes Lice Frogs Darknesse yet he neuer brought any from the Graue Christ Iesus himselfe amongst all his world of Miracles which hee did whilest hee was in the world did not make this power of his too familiar he brought one from the Bed another from the Beere but neuer saue onely one from the Graue and that was he whom he lou'd Hee would not put the strength of his Godhead to deale with so weake an aduersarie as a Disease but Cui plus est mortem vincere quà m remouere languorem he prouided not to cure Lazarus in his sicknes but to honour himselfe in his raising and euen by that temporall Resurrection of him to proue the eternall Resurrection one day of vs he doth but speake to him Lazarus come forth and he came forth not to bring amazement but faith to the beholders who might then haue shouted with that voyce of triumph Death where is thy sting Graue where is thy victory But if we goe to no other Graue but this and only looke vpon the deliuerance of Lazarus from it we may sound a Conquest before the Field bee wonne and so our Enemie which lyes in Ambush may inuade vs with an vn-lookt for assault Lazarus rose indeed and for a time enioy'd some benefit of longer life Res quidem honorabilis dominatio potestatiua fuit saith Cyprian The power that our Sauiour shewed ouer the Graue euen there ought euer to be honour'd in our memories but he was to goe to the Graue againe The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Statute in Saint Paul that all men must dye will euer stand in full force strength and vertue and therefore the Psalmist makes it an angry question to any that shall doubt it Quis viuit Who is he that liues and shall not see Death All the comfort one of the best Heathen could euer giue in this case was Cogitare id sibi accidisse quod antè se passi sunt omnes omnesque passuros The community of all suffering alike may somewhat ease the seuerity of the punishment for when we goe to our Graues they are the most sure Possessions that euer our Fathers could leaue vs inherited by them that went before vs and shall successiuely be taken vp by all generations that shall come after vs. We must all say to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Wormes You are my Mother and my Sisters And yet now euen this comfortlesse place the Graue can yeeld vs comfort the walls of that Prison being in a manner broken downe since Christ Iesus who was the Surety for our first Fathers Debt was lay'd for a time in it to redeeme vs from it The Deuill knew that he had giuen his word for the payment but did not vnderstand that
apace and how wilt thou scatter Kings when the chariots of the Lord shall be twenty thousand euen thousands of Angels In what furrow then will the Purchaser hide his couetous head In what dunghill will the Adulterer shrow'd his vncleane and rotten body Into what Ditch then will the Drunkard reele or in what Parchment will the Lawyer write his Euidences or with what waxe will he seale them when the Heauens shall be contracted like Parchment and the Hils shall melt away like Waxe and no Mountaine left to giue the Infidel so much hope of mercy as to call vpon the Mountaines to couer him Then wilt thou command the Sea not onely to stay her proud waues but to make one depth still call vpon another till they bring vp from the lowest bottome all that haue shipwrack't in her waters or dash't against her Rockes And vpon earth euery Angle Nooke and Chasme euery place though more desert then the ransackt Temple of Ierusalem now is shall be enquir'd into and not be able to keepe any garment of flesh that euer was worne by any whom Christ dyed for If dissected limbes lie torne assunder in places as distant as one end of the Pole is from the other yet will he soader them together and make them in euery seuerall indiuiduum a perfect entire numericall body againe Not the Beakes of Eagles nor the throates of Rauens not the Entrailes of the most deuouring Monsters of the Forrest not the Iawes of Tigers nor the teeth of Crocodiles Serpents or Hiena's for to these and worse then these doth sometimes this cocker'd flesh of ours become a prey not resolution to the first indeterminate matter not the dissolution if that could be to nothing can keep can hide these bodies of ours from him that first made them out of nothing But whether they crumble into Atomes of dust or be distill'd into water or with ashed from a Funerall Pile fill an vrne or be attenua 〈…〉 to Ayre euery one of these Rauens Eagles 〈◊〉 sters Beasts Tigers Sea Fire Earth Ayre 〈…〉 their priuate closets to be vnlock't and restore euery integrating part Arterie Sinew Muscle Veine Ioynt Limbe Nay those parts which Philosophy esteemes but Excrements Diuinity will then make Ornaments and therefore God hath a care that a haire of mans head shall not fall to ground without his prouidence Thus much Rubbish He will haue to worke vpon at the Resurrection who at the Creation did all ex nihilo of nothing and that was the greater taske What change soeuer these bodies suffer subducuntur nobis sed Deo Elementorum custodi reseruantur in no Element can they be lost which are committed to his keeping who keepes the Elements themselues But all these Graues which I haue yet nam'd are but like Peters chaines which fell easily from his hands there is a Graue yet more deepe more loathsome that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vtter darkenesse darkenesse of body darknesse of soule not Egypt in all its darknesse like to the darkenesse of that Graue There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an vnpassable Gulfe betwixt life and death for euer fix't no Musicke but where their Instruments are gnashing teeth and their Hymnes howling All the sensible faculties of the soule taken vp with no thought but neuer-ending sense of neuer-ending misery No mention of ioy but Poena damni the vnrecouerable losse of ioy when they shall see others enioy the abundance of that Ioy which they shall neuer haue When all other Graues shall haue their Graue and the last Moyty of sand be runne out of the glasse of Time it selfe in this Graue shall they lie that are gone to it as dead to any thing but torment which shall neuer die to them nor they to it No Gregory no Falconella no Masse no Trentals No Beads no Penance no Pope no Iesuite no Deuill for those whom their owne pride hath ioyn'd together let no man put asunder I say none of these could euer redeeme from that Graue of mortall immortality Yet out of that Graue in one true and most Orthodoxe sense are we brought not by getting out if we euer had been actually in but because that wee know he is the Lord whose mercifull preuention hath bar'd vp the euerlasting doores of that Graue to vs that are out and to that purpose hee sent the Angell in the Reuelation from Heauen hauing the Key of the bottomelesse Pit and a great chaine in his hand and he tooke the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Deuil and bound him a thousand yeeres shut him vp and seal'd vpon him that he should deceiue the Nations no more If a Messenger one of our fellow seruants for so the Angell cals himselfe in the foregoing Chapter could doe this bind the Graue-maker shut him vp in his owne Graue how may we that are his people know that the Lord himselfe hath all the power of Hell chayn'd at his will all the Gates thereof shut to all but those that will needes enter by the Posternes of Heathenish Infidelity or Romish superstition the Keyes of euery Gate else are kept sauing those of our Sauiours wounds the infectious sting of Death being pluckt out of the mouth of the Serpent the Graue and Hell it selfe And by this you know I hope all you his people that he is the Lord Now he hath opened your Graues and brought you vp out of your Graues God for his part hath you see made euery word of the Text good let him not in such a generall Haruest of Heauen and Earth haue occasion to say to any of you as the Master of the Vineyard said to the Labourers Why stand yee heere all the day idle why doe not your selues doe your parts too and set your hands to bring your selues vp out of your Graues But the early charitie the vnconsum'd Bounty of this Citty preuents an Exhortation you bring and keepe from the Graue many a weake aged Christian who haue no other props but you and their staues their owne limbes sooner forsaking them then your bounty Infants brought into the world and left there as in a wildernesse hang vpon your paps and are fed from your Tables You deliuer the poore that cry and haue none to helpe them In your Hospitall lyes many a wounded Christian and in euery wound is plac't a tongue to speake and cry to God himselfe for mercy continu'd mercy and honour to this Citie Your Bethlem shewes how he that was borne at Bethlem is borne anew in your hearts and you againe regenerate and borne in him for whose sake if a Cup of cold water giuen shall neuer goe vnrewarded then surely Copiosa erit Merces vestra in Coelis great will your reward be in Heauen when you are brought vp out of your Graues Thus farre doe the armes of the Poore lift you their Benefactors and Patrons from your Graues Thus farre are these Liuories which attend you Angels and