the same end to make us magnifie God for his Wisdom Goodness and Justice Nay I add compare the Law of Works imposed upon Adam and the Law of Faith imposed upon Christians and both of them are possible to be done For the first man according to the integrity wherein he was created and by the virtue of supernatural Grace bestowed upon him might have obeyed the Commandement given if he had not turned to disobedience and by the Divine help of the same grace we to whom God hath preached the glad tidings of his Son are endewed with power to believe that we may be saved Now in a word let us lay the difference of these two one against another God gave the Law in Paradise as a King in his Justice but he gave the Gospel in Sion as a Father of Grace and Mercy according to that Law the reward had been given ex debito by debt and due say the Schoolmen but to him that believes the reward is given by mere Grace which excludes boasting He that disobey'd that Law was to look for the most strict severity of Justice so condemnation belongs likewise to the unbeliever according to Justice but perhaps it shall be temper'd with some moderation for Christs sake Finally this is the main disagreement the first Covenant made with Adam did exclude all hope of remission of sins but the second Covenant made in Christ runs in this tenour to them that live by Faith your sins shall be blotted out and your iniquities forgotten After you have understood the first point how there was a Law imposed upon Adam when he was created and endewed with original Justice you must now give ear to the next thing in order what heavy and astonishing matter is contained in that Law which was given by Moses to the Children of Israel and remember that I consider the Law deliver'd in the two Tables at Mount Sinai Seorsim and by it self separated from all the promises contained in the Prophets and in the Psalms of David These then are the remarkable differences between the Covenant written in Tables of stone and this Covenant of the New Testament in the Blood of Christ First God gave the Law at Sinai being wrath with our sins for whereas we had lost both the wisdom of our understanding and the loyal obedience of our will by the transgression of our first parent yet God impos'd his Commandement upon us and exacts such measure of holiness which we are not able to perform Therefore that Law was given in the barren Wilderness because it is not able to bring one soul unto God likewise it was delivered with signs full of wrath thunder and lightning and a dreadful noise to shew that God was full of indignation when he laid it upon us On the contrary he made the new Covenant of peace being reconciled to them that were lost or at least proffering reconciliation in his beloved Son Read this Doctrine Heb. xii from the 18. to the 24. verse Ye are not come to the Mount that might not be touched and that burnt with fire nor unto blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words which they that heard entreated they might hear it no more They could not endure that which was commanded And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake but ye are come to Mount Sion and to the City of the living God c. Wherefore the Gospel was presented with manifest tokens of love and benevolence Ecce Evangelizo behold I bring you good tidings 2. There 's a difference arising between the first Testament and the last from the several Mediators that came between God and the people Moses was a servant faithful in the Family and he was the Mediator of the Old Testament Christ is the Son and Heir of all he was the Mediator of the New The Law was given by Moses Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ 3. The old Covenant was ratified with the blood of Beasts but loe the New Covenant doth much surpass it which was ratified with the precious Blood of that immaculate Lamb which took away the sins of the world which is therefore called the Blood of the New Testament 4. The old Law in St. Paul's phrase contained poor and beggerly rudiments not able to bring to life It was a killing letter the ministry of death and condemnation it worketh wrath it entred that sin might abound it is like Hagar which gendreth children unto bondage Gal. iv 24. The Gospel is the power of salvation to every one that believeth a quickening Spirit it purgeth us from our sins it speaketh better things than the blood of Abel 5. That which Moses brought was an heavy burden which neither the Fathers nor the Children could bear but of the Gospel Christ saith his yoke is easie and his burden is light and in it you shall find rest for your souls Lastly the Old Testament endured unto Christ and no longer wherefore because it passed away it is called the Old the New Testament remaineth for ever so says St. Paul of our Blessed Saviour taking flesh who is not made after the Law of a carnal Commandment but after the power of an endless life No passage or comparison can be made between them but the Law given at Mount Sinai will appear to be an harsh and most unwelcome injunction and that which doth clear us from the curse thereof is Evangelium the best tidings that ever arriv'd at the ear of man Hitherto I have consider'd the Old Testament in no respect but as it contains the killing letter of the Law but you must not mistake that the Holy Spirit hath interlaced many fast-holdings of Faith and promises Evangelical almost every where in the Prophets and in the Psalms of David Nay the Old Testament is rather Promise than Law yet it was fit the rigour of the Law should be repeated that it might more appear how necessary the promise of Grace was that we could not live without it and that every man being convicted in his conscience by the sentence of the Law we might more ardently fly to Grace for the end of the Moral Law is double to set us a rule what we should endeavour to do and to discover our own impotency unto us what we are not able to do that we may seek a remedy in the satisfaction of Christ But this I say that the darkness and obscurity of the Old Testament was enlightned with many excellent promises that the believing Israelites might be partakers of Faith and of everlasting life they had the same Gospel which we have the same Christ the same Faith the same Spirit sealing the truth of promise unto them Where is then the priviledge you will say that the tidings are better to us then unto them or far surpassing on our side every way Israel that believed in the promised seed was an heir but under age
Prophet by prostrating himself did bring life again into that which was dead so Jesus by making himself an ignominious reproach to the world did justifie and acquit those who were appointed to everlasting death Thus you see why our Saviours answer strikes upon the circumstance of that present time Suffer it to be so now He came in the form of a Servant and as long as he emptied himself in that shape he would do the duties of a Servant Sine modo now I will be baptized of thee in water hereafter I will baptize my Church with the Holy Ghost and with fire As yet I stand for one of the multitude as yet the Holy Spirit hath not descended upon me to make me manifest to the world that I am the Son of God therefore suffer it to be so now Mark I beseech you how in the lowest depression of a servant he keeps the Majesty of a Lord For he makes himself a servant by his own command Sic volo sic jubeo it is my own pleasure to make my self a worm and no man yea a very scorn and derision of them that are round about me As Cesar did not lessen his own dignity because he would both command as General and yet work in the trenches like the meanest Pioneer Dux consilio miles exemplo and as Helen the Mother of Constantine was not under the honour of a Princess because she would dress the Blains and Ulcers of poor Cripples in the Hospital So the mighty Son of God was not diminished in his glory because he put himself into the rank of abject ones by his own yielding and accord not by compulsive necessity His obedience did not spring from any legal servitude as one whose Parents did beget him in bondage nor from any penal servitude as one that was enthralled by trespasses or violent captivity But he did put his neck into the yoke and did appoint himself certain years of misery and abasement therefore he lays his authority upon the Prophet that it should be so Suffer it to be so now And is not this example worth the learning That God is better served by him that hath a yielding spirit and will stoop in humility than by him that is stiff to maintain the honour of his person and will not condescend for the advantage of much good from his place and dignity You shall have them that will defend Augustine the Monk that would neither veile his head nor bend his knee to the Brittish Monks of this Island that were met to receive him Forsooth such courtesie did not become him because he was the Nuncio of the Apostolical See There was a great Clerk that bolstered up the fiery humour of Pope Paul the Fifth in the Venetian quarrel and bad him keep his dignity inviolable whatsoever became of peace with this Text to enflame him Arise Peter kill and eate O if there be any such evil Monitor that provokes you to stiffness and stubborness by the consideration of your Greatness and Principality answer him with our Saviour Sine modò frater whatsoever I be in pre-eminence of honour let me forget it now many things unworthy our person must be swallowed up for the glory of God When Shimei reviled David Abishai would have had his head for it suffer it to be so now says David though he were the King of Israel I must pass it over without revenge it is the Lord that will afflict me There are such as will blow coals especially to incense great men if their inferiours chance to trespass Are you not noble Of ample fortunes Of great power and reputation And will you not crush an underling that affronts you But such injuries as your bloud could not put up your office which you sustain must remit that you are members of Christ linkt together in love which is the bond of perfection Christs Office of Mediatorship made him be contented with those abasements which where far unworthy of his Majestical person But suffer it to be so now c. This Point which I have latest handled was the strict command of Christ over John Baptist as his Lord in that which follows as a Preceptor he teacheth his Disciple and gives him reason that he might know upon what ground he must obey Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness in which reason so many words so many notations six in all which will require discussion 1. What signification the word righteousness hath 2. What is required to fulfil it 3. How it was fulfilled in this Baptism for our Saviour hath put an Emphasis upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus I must fulfil it 4. How it can be said that the coming to Johns Baptism was the fulfilling of all righteousness 5. Why the Proposition speaks of more than one of us in the Plural 6. That Christ did fulfil all righteousness at this time not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a strict necessary rigour but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for decency sake because it did become him So you see every word is ponderous and observable Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness Of these as the scantling of the time will permit The significations of the word righteousness or justice are four First It is the name of all vertue taken in the lump where none is wanting So did the Philosopher state it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justice is not a part or a fragment of Vertue but the whole continent of it And so it is to be found in God only and in no other Creature And thus our Saviour did fulfil all righteousness because we had fulfilled all manner of wickedness And so St. Chrysostom understands this place that to make our peace with God Christ was tied to the exact performance of all the Commandments Secondly Justice is one particular branch of Vertue which is thus defined Constans perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique tribuendi A constant and perpetual resolution to give every man his own And St. Paul puts it in one Precept Rom. xiii 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Render therefore to all men their dues And Christ was most respectful to see that every one had their own both in heaven and earth according to that most admirable principle Give unto Cesar that which is Cesars and to God that which is Gods Thirdly Justice is taken for faithfulness in our word and being exactly true in our promises and certainly lying is a fraudulency most opposite to Justice Thus did our Saviour shine in righteousnes full of grace were his lips neither was any guile found in his mouth Yea let God be true says the Apostle and every man a liar that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and overcome when thou art judged Rom. iii. 4. Fourthly Righteousness doth many times very properly signifie that integrity which is found in a man according to that special Office which he sustains There is a particular Justice belonging to every state and condition of
mans life by it self A just Father a just Counsellor a just Judge and so likewise in the particular condition of that Office a just Saviour and Mediator Out of this last acception surely we may best pick out the meaning of my Text. For this humility and obedience which our Saviour did now profess in coming to Jordan with the multitude to be baptized it could not be reduced to the observance of any Ceremony in the old Law nor to any Precept of the Ten Commandments wherein a necessary part of justice consisted but it was agreeable to the person of his Mediatorship and he was accountable for all such duties as parts of righteousness For let the Sacrament of Baptism be considered in two sorts First from the efficient cause that it was established by divine authority Secondly From the end in that it signifies the washing away of sins in both these respects it pertained to his Office to be baptized who was the Mediator between God and man In the former regard we have his own confession I came to do the will of my Father that sent me and although necessity did not lie upon him to meddle with that Ceremony which betokened the cleansing of sins yet it was expedient that he should not contemn but do honour to his Fathers Ordinance What did it concern him to be subject to his Parents To be Circumcized To keep the Feast days of the Jews But because it was a part of righteousness to apply himself devotionately to all divine Institutions In the latter regard though his own soul was pure neither was iniquity found in him Yet he bore the iniquity of us all and we have need of washing not our feet only but our hands and our head It is a full saying of Maximus to this purpose Justissimum erat quia totum suscepisset homimem ut per omnia hominis transiret sacramenta Since he took man upon him with the guilt of all his corruptions it behoved him to pass through all those Sacraments which are the means to take away our corruptions So you see what righteousness signifies in this place Non justitiam aequalitatis legis sed aequitatis vocationis Not such justice as is commanded in the Law but a decent equity according to the Office and vocation of his Mediatorship The next thing to be considered is the fulfilling of righteousness Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness Every one in whom the Spirit of God abides hath a good purpose to do justice and the works of the Law but he that fulfils righteousness and is exact in his ways without all reproof is the Son of God I say as for us that know God by faith and live in tabernacles of flesh wherein there is always malicious resistance against the inward operations of grace we are all transgressors of righteousness it is impossible we should fulfil it Let every man humble himself before God confessing that he is a great sinner because Christ humbled himself for us all to come to that Sacrament which is remediable for Sin St. Austin was troubled with one Celestinus who opposed him that one of the Sons of Adam might be exactly righteous in this life notwithstanding the manifold tentations of frailty St. Austin rejoyns are we not all taught to say the Lords Prayer But if any could be clear from trespasses he need not say Forgive us our trespasses We do not say therefore that there is a man without sin we say there may be a man without sin Quomodo autem possit per quem possit de hôc quaeritur But the question is how and by what means he may be so For the Orthodox Church did never mean a man could be so in this life untill he were translated to the Kingdom of Glory Attend what it is which the same Father brings under the compass of sin and let every man examine himself by that Peccatum est cum vel non est caritas quae esse debet vel minor est quà m esse debet sive hoc voluntate vitari possit sive non possit It is a sin either not to have charity which we ought to have or to have less charity than we ought to have Though we could avoid that defect by our own will or though we could not meaning sure our inability to fulfil the Law by the corruption we draw from our first Parents the guilt lies upon us for want of charity Who can tell how oft he offendeth Says David Is there any man then upon earth who can tell how oft he offendeth Rely not therefore upon thy self but upon Christ who alone was able to fulfil all righteousness The Devil tried him in the Wilderness whether the perfection of all justice were in him But was repelled and he could not draw him to forsake his righteousness The Scribes and Pharisees worse than Satan misdeemed the Doctrine of Christ how his Discipline would be some new thing quite different from obedience to the Law But our Saviour prevented their ill surmise saying I came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them Mat. v. 17. To destroy the Law is either to take the true sense from it by false interpretations or to cancell the force by which it obliged or lastly by malice and presumption to violate and infringe it For violation of the Law they did accuse him but not convince Pilate who did strive to do them favour was compelled to say I find no evil that he hath done For delivering the right sense and meaning of it his interpretations were most divine and discovered the vanity of Pharisaical Traditions Whereupon says Theophylact as a Painter laying fresh colours upon an old Picture Non delendo sed perficiendo tollit priorem imaginem makes as it were a new Image not by blotting out the old but by varnishing and washing it new again So Christ gave as it were a new Law to the Jews not by expunging or adding any thing but by applying the natural exposition to the Text. As for cancelling the force by which it tied it is true indeed that he did abrogate all Ceremonial Figures and Shadows because such things were to vanish away when the substance was exhibited in his own person Wherefore Cajetan marks the words accutely that Christ did not say I will destroy no part of the Law no not the Ceremonies but Non veni solvere they shall be laid aside hereafter but I came not to destroy them in my own person So St. Stephen was accused Acts vi 14. We heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth shall change the Customs which Moses hath delivered us Summarily therefore thus our Saviour fulfilled the Law and all righteousness The Law consists of four things Prophesies Moral Precepts Ceremonial Rites Judicial Statutes He fulfilled the Prophetical part personally exhibiting himself to be born to be crucified to rise the third day to ascend into glory In the
meditation I would resolve to be a true man where Pilat was an hypocrite and say in defiance of all the world c. The rather did this Deputy endeavour to clear himself of blood either because he had been taxed before for extreme severity The Galilaeans were rebellious and he mingled their own blood with their Sacrifice it was that as some conjecture which put enmity between him and Herod or rather he shun'd the imputation of blood because he was a Ruler and a Magistrate Ferrum adhibere nisi in extremis neque civile neque medicum As in the Body of man so in the Estate political that Member should be very corrupt which is cut off with the Sword Many Executions are no more honourable to the Judg than many Funerals to the Physician Mercy and Clemency are stronger than Lions to support the Crown of the King and that Throne shall be established says Synesius where the People are afraid of nothing so much as for the Kings safety It is said of Trajan the Emperor that he was both subtle and industrious to examin the crimes of Malefactors sed mallet non invenire quod quaerit quà m invenire quod puniat that it pleased him better not to find out that which he sought for than to find out any thing which must be punished The life of Jehu the Son of Nimshi is it not a strange Legend as ever was recorded no act or exploit of his memory remaining in all the Scripture but interfecit interfecit here he kill'd one there he murdered forty then he slew 400 but as soon as all the Enemies of God were cut off then says the Text he slept with his Fathers as if his work were done and he died for want of more employment But I need not enlarge my discourse in this point we having not so much cause to preach to man as to praise God for lenity And I have not so learnt Christ to think the Sword of vengeance doth not become the arm of the Civil Magistrate David had a good purpose to build a Temple unto God but it was not accepted because he was a man of war and had shed much blood 1 Chron. xxviii Why was the work then cast upon Solomon his Son had not he given sentence of death against Adonijah Joab and Shemei and is it not as lawful to cut off the Enemies in war as Malefactors in peace First the hearts of Warriours are not always bent upon justice as the heart of the Magistrate then it is the Word of the Judg that fetcheth blood but it is the Hand of the Battel therefore God himself hath thus distinguished that the blood of War did defile King David but the blood of Civil Justice did not cast a blemish upon Solomon They that cannot distinguish between vengeance and just authority are like the Moabites that lookt upon the waters and saw them ruddie and thought it was effusion of blood when it was the brightness of the Sun and the light of Heaven But was Pilat so tender of taking life away did it come so hardly from him to doom the Sentence of death against a Prisoner Lord what Dam did they suck into whose hands our Ancestors fell the Grey-head the Reverend Praelacy the fruitful Womb of Mothers all were sentenced unto one fiery Execution for Religion's sake Surely it had been a Premunire in the Court of Rome to have shewn mercy unto any man or to talk of clemency It was the disposition of the old Indian Philosophers says St. Hierom Eorum disciplina juvare non nisi justè novit nocere nec justè they would do good only when there was justice to do it but they would not hurt any man no not when they had reason for it The Papists are as far from this meekness as Dan from Beersheba that let out floulds of Christian blood to maintain their unbloody Sacrifice When Cyrus the younger would have slain his Brother Artaxerxes see the tender compassion of the Mother she bound him about her own neck with the hair of her head and it was a sufficient Sanctuary to save his life Our holy Martyrs and Professors were bound to the Church their Mother by Baptism by Truth by Faith by Charity by the Prerogative of Natural Branches and yet like a Perfume of Incense they were burnt to ashes It is enough and they cannot hate the false Church by the Canons and Confession of Trent may hate their parricidious and malicious minds by the fire in Smithfield It is a Saint-like indulgence that we do not mete the same measure into their own bosom an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth no it is canticum canticorum the Canticle of our Church and the Song of the Spouse of Christ I am innocent of blood Now I will bring Pilat upon his last Trial from innocens sanguinis to innocens hujus sanguinis to the trial of this man's blood and you shall see how he mocked his conscience that he was innocent of the blood of Christ those few things which he could say for himself are these In the first place He stood upon it before all the people that Christ was harmless and guilty of no crime or imputation Ecce priùs absolvit quam damnat if Christ was harmless why was he beaten here 's a Judg indeed fitter for Outlaws and Robbers than for a civil Corporation first he absolves and then condemns his Prisoner As St. Austin said to Lucretia Nocentior fuit quae seipsam interfecit quantò erat in causâ innocentior Lucretia was the greater Murderer of her self because Lucretia was innocent So it holds in the crucifying of our Saviour and nothing doth more aggravate the fact to make Pilat nocent than that he confesseth Christ was innocent When Sylla did send out his Guard to cut off the head of Antonius the Orator the well-spoken man did so bewitch the Souldiers with fair words who came to kill him that they hung down their heads wept and spared his life till he sent other Assassines more cruel than the former who did the deed Lo a greater wonder Christ making no declaration of his Cause in pathetical words cast such a look upon the Judg O what a sight it had been to have seen his face but for that moment that he could not but confess the heart was true where the countenance was so honest Thus according to the case of Antonius in the first assault the Ballance of Justice was held even till the Rulers inconstancy and the Peoples importunity weighed it down against the best alive therefore the clearing of Jesus from all faults by protestation is nothing to make Pilat innocent Secondly what can he say beside in his own justification marry like a tender-hearted Murderer he would not let his own hand be upon him but sent him as a Malifactor of Galilee unto Herod Call you this commiseration to be delivered from the Adversary to the Judg from the Judg to
confess that we owe both our life and our substance to the Eternal Majesty yet our thankfulness could return nothing to him but it is spilt and consumed to nothing Unto these two blessings which the Jews did enjoy by his mercy long life and rich means to maintain it sanguis adeps we have received two blessings ten thousand times richer first that the Most High did offer up his Son on the Cross for our sakes and then he did as it were sacrifice the Holy Ghost unto Man sending him down in cloven tongues as it had been of fire these are sanguis and adeps the best bloud and the best fat or unction in the world O let us not forget his honour and goodness to make continual mention of it and since the Father hath sacrificed as it were the Son and the Holy Ghost to us let us sacrifice our selves to the holy and individed Trinity both bloud and fat both life and fortunes both soul and substance Secondly by slaying a Beast in Sacrifice the humble Penitent did confess his unworthiness and the guiltiness of his sins which made him deserve to be quite consumed by the anger of the Lord even as the flesh of a Sheep or Goat was burnt in the fire As the Ninevites in their humiliation cast ashes upon their heads that such a spectacle of desolation might speak their mind that they and their City did justly deserve to become ashes and desolation Such a Ceremony in the Injunctions of Penance hath often been imposed upon infamous Delinquents to hold a wax Candle lighted in their hand before the people which was a silent confessing that as the Taper wasted away with the flame so their iniquities made them fit to be burnt in Hell fire but that they hoped the Lord would be merciful The old Manichaeans therefore and the modern Anabaptists had small reason to reject the Books of Moses because he delivered a form of Religion which consisted much in the slaughter of Birds and Cattle I am sure Christ allowed that old way while it was a way to be very laudable both by his Precept Luke v. 14. He bad the Leper whom he had cured Go thy self to the Priest and offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded and by partaking no doubt every year as well as at his last Supper of the Paschal Lamb a Rememorative according to the present point in hand that the Children of Israel should confess how their first-born deserved to have been slain as well as the first of the Egyptians were and as well as that Lamb was whereof they eat if justice had been strictly executed upon them as it was upon the Egyptians Certainly this was no small profit arising out of Sacrifice which made a contrite man discern his own sins and unworthiness wherein he compared himself with the Beast that perished And this was wont to be done in the Law by one annual Ceremony more solemn than ordinary wherefore St. Paul says in those Sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year Heb. x. 3. and in the usual Sin-offering which came often to the Altar according as such as were laden with sins did unburden their conscience And I will interpose one thing in a touch and a way to convince their obstinacy that hold it no way material for the peace of their mind to have the absolution of their sins pronounced unto them by the lips of the Priest such a one for ought I can see in this opinion thinks himself to make a Church alone without the Communion of Saints yet as he is convinced by the power of the Keys committed to the Apostles and their Successors under the Gospel so the Lord did refute him by the Ceremony of the Sin-offering under the Law for one part of the Sin-offering was burnt to God an the Priest had the other part ad significandum quod expiatio peccatorum sit à Deo per ministerium Sacerdotum to prove symbolically that God did remit sins by the ministry of his Priests and therefore God had the main share and the Priest the remaining portion of the Offering But alas though this second reason were very useful to the Jews while they were like Elementary Children fed with Signs and Figures yet now we Christians have other principles stronger meat for what need we confess our unworthiness and what punishment we deserve over the Carkass of a Beast when we see much better what penalty remains unto us if God would be extreme to mark what is done amiss who spared not the life of his only Son when he bore the person of our transgressions And there 's the third reason which is the full and complete use of all the ancient Sacrifices it was to prefigure the immolation the bloudshedding the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ those were the Parables of the Old Testament as I may call them and Christs Death was the intepretation of them all Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world says John the Baptist Agnus qui redemit oves the Lamb that redeemed all the Sheep which hear his voice Behold the Lamb of God slain from the beginning of the world Revel xiii 8. says John the Divine slain personally under Pontius Pilate but slain representatively from the beginning of the world in the immolation of all those beasts whose blood by faith did embrew the Altar The bloud of Bulls and of Rams the slaughter of the Morning and Evening Sacrifice did all belong to the acknowledgment of the same reckoning which at last was fully discharg'd by the bloud of Christ those were but like petty sums to pay the Interest in the mean time at last the Principal the whole Debt was discharg'd by that most Royal ransom of our Saviour In a word all those bloody Oblations were like John Baptist forerunners of Christ Indentures sealed with bloud that the Redeemer would come and die for his People Not the least Sparrow which was offered for cleansing but might move our Saviour to say unto the Jews If yes believed in Moses ye would believe also in me Now for as much as the Holy Ghost hath made us able to interpret obscure things since the comming of Christ how fluent and facil are these meditations to us to discern our Lord in every clean offering which was offered up by Noah in every Lamb which came to the office of the Sons of Aaron with great difficulty did the Patriarchs pick out that construction When we read of a Sacrifice we see as much in it as if Christs Passion were represented on a Stage Bernard made a pious and an eloquent gradation how faith gathered strength by degrees being a little spark with those that were ordinary Believers before the Law then a candle under the Law lumen in laterna no more as David said in his daies thy word is a Lantern unto my feet and a light unto my paths then like a flaming Beacon in
David What 's this inclination of the ear we cannot bow or stir that part as we may the hand and the knee Aures hominum sunt immotae ut sit velox ad audiendum says one the ears of man are not to be wagg'd and mov'd like the ears of a beast to the end there may be no impediment in attention but that he may be swift to hear But he is said to incline his ear who hath a submissive heart and listens diligently to that which is spoken If a frivolous tale suppose the feigned pilgrimage of some Errant Knight be told us every syllable shall be markt so heedily that you will be able to repeat it Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant But if God do send his servants to narrate his will and pleasure how many disturbances shall they find in their relation of heavenly things Sarah laught at the Angel Pharoah chafed and interrupted Moses the Jews mis-interpreted Christ himself Gallio marks not a word that 's said Eutyches sleeps the Athenians flout at Paul and say what means this babler who will take the pains to tell a message any more to him that will abuse it so neglectfully and if God should take away the preaching of his word from this people let them thank themselves who were so defective in all due and reverent attention But says John the Baptist The Friend of the Bridegroom standeth and heareth him and rejoyceth greatly because of the Bridegrooms voice John iii. 29. And so much for this word behold as it is a note of admiration of demonstration and lastly of attention Behold I bring c. Now the first of seven things which are remarkable in the message is that which hath met us often before in all the Texts upon this Gospel the consideration of the person that the Angel is sent unto us upon a peaceable entreaty Ecce ego Behold I bring you good tidings The children of men have so often provoked God to send Angels with a sword of vengeance to the earth that no doubt Gabriel was pleased to bring a welcome message with him A messenger cannot help it if he come with sorrowful news and yet for the most part men will be displeased at such a one whose tongue doth bode discomfort and infelicity Joab did tender the welfare of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok when he would not let him be the first that should certifie David how Absalom was dead says he Thou shalt bear tidings another day but this day thou shalt bear no tidings because the Kings Son is dead Therefore if you mark it Angels that came to inflict punishment or to threaten some ensuing mischief came single for the most part or never above two at once but to do a good office to men upon earth to protect Elisha from the Aramites to annuntiate that the Messias was come into the world they came by troops and multitudes no less in this chapter then a multitude of the heavenly host There were three with Abraham in his tent to tell him that Isaac the son of promise should be born unto him of Sarah in their old age and we cannot but take notice how one of the three vanisht and was gone when they went into Lot's house to warn him that Sodom should be destroyed with fire and brimstone How far are they from this Angelical benevolence that gird other men with the remembrance of their misfortunes and insult over their miseries as Shimei us'd David in his affliction a curse will fall upon them that love to be instruments to undo men rather than to raise them up that delight in the crosses of their brother rather than in their consolation Miserable comforters as Job said of his Friends that powred vinegar into his wounds to vex them not to heal them But these holy ones that are sent from above delight to be the Embassadors of joy the first of them all that I read of in holy Scripture came to administer help and succor to the distressed and that was the Angel that came to Hagar to chear up her drooping spirits and to put her into the way of safety when she and Ishmael the child were almost ready to perish And now one of them comes in my Text with good news to shew that a perfect friendship was made up between all parties in this verse between Angels and Men for Ego Evangelizo I come to rejoyce with you as a friend I bring you good news 2. A friendship between God and man for a Saviour is born unto you which is Christ the Lord. 3. Friendship and amity between man and man between Kingdom and Kingdom between one Nation and another people at the 14. verse On earth peace and good will towards men Yet when our sins cry out for vengeance this truce is broke of all sides The sword of our enemies shall be unsheath'd and all peace shall be dissolv'd between man and man our Saviour shall become our angry Judge neither shall the blessing descend from God to Man Lastly the Angel shall draw his sword and cause the pestilence to cut down thousands upon thousands as the Mower shears down the grass of the field I am sure the fury of such an angry Angel sticks still in our remembrance Therefore let every man for his part keep fast the bond of his tripartite friendship by sanctification and obedience then the Angels will come unto us not in fury but in mercy saying Ecce ego c. I proceed to the next circumstance Ecce Evangelizo we render it to bring good tidings but it is as if he had said I come to be an Evangelist I am no Law-giver whose voice was terrible I am a messenger of a better Covenant of the Gospel of Grace At this Text beloved the Spirit of God doth enter the word Gospel or Evangel quite to alter the state of the Church from what it had been before For the better understanding hereof I pray you mark it attentively in what manner God did dispence his will and pleasure to his Church from the beginning of the world to the end of all times And for order sake I will reduce it all to three heads to a Law which was given by God to Adam to a Law which was given by Moses to Israel and to these glad tidings to wit the Gospel of the New Testament which was given by Christ to all Nations from one end of the earth to the other 1. Now I buckle to the first of these a Law was given by God to Adam That Law was short and commandatory fac vive do this and live therefore that is rightly called the Law of Works but the Gospel says if thou believest thou shalt be saved therefore that 's called the Law of Faith The same God was the author of both these both were revealed to men and to no other creature both of them according as we perform them promise the same reward both of them have