the Indians and in some countryes themselves as among the Americans yet for all this their throwing themselves into or causing others to passe through the fire to their Moloch or Saturne or Abaddon they are not to bee accounted zealously affected in religion because what they doe in this kinde is not done by Gods commandement nor intended to his honour but in obedience and to the honour of an Idoll or Devill whom they worship in stead of the true God 3 The Jesuite or Jesuited Romanist is a kinde of zealot for hee will compasse sea and land to make a proselyte hee will sticke at nothing for the advantage of the catholike cause no not the sticking or stabbing of Kings and Princes his zeale is so hot that it will kindle a fire to blow up whole Parliaments for an Holocaust to the Romane Moloch yet is hee not zealous because hee is hot and fervent not for Christ but for Antichrist and hee useth not sanctified but execrable and damnable meanes to promote the catholike cause as he termeth it and enlarge the territories of the Man of sinne The last condition of true zeale is that it keepe within the walke of mens speciall calling which they who confound for the most part bring confusion upon themselves as did King Uzziah who would bee thought out of zeale to burne incense unto the Lord but because hee tooke upon him to doe that which i 2 Chron. 26.18 appertained not to him but to the Priests of the Lord the sonnes of Aaron that were consecrated thereunto his incense stanke in the nostrils of God ver 19. and himselfe also for a leprosie rose up in his forehead before the Priests in the house of the Lord from beside the incense altar and Azariah the chiefe Priest thrust him out of the Temple ver 20. yea himselfe hasted also to goe out because the Lord had smitten him Nothing is more necessary or usefull than fire if it bee kept within the furnace oven or tunnell of the chimney yea or within the barrell of the piece and from thence orderly issue out but nothing so dangerous if it bee not contained within the hearth or breake out of it selfe and flye abroad so nothing is more commendable or profitable than well guided nothing more incommodious and perillous than exorbitant zeale when the Prince medleth with the censer or the Priest with the scepter when private men take the sword out of the Magistrates hand or the Magistrate mis-applyeth the publike sword of justice to revenge his private wrongs Thus have I at length defined zeale and confined it within the limits of every mans lawfull and speciall calling Which limits shall be the bounds of my speech and your attention at this present The best k Plin. nat hist l. 12. c. ult Optimum quod est odoratissimum è semine ac maximum ponderosissimum moâ—dens in gustu est fervensque in ore balsamum and most soveraigne is that which is biting in the taste and burning in the mouth such have beene the observations upon this text biting in the taste and hot in the mouth God grant that like true balsamum they may prove a savour of life unto life to all that have heard me this day I am come with our Saviours Commission to put fire among you and what is my desire but that forthwith it be kindled to purge out all your drosse to purifie the sons of Levi like l Mal. 3.2 silver to burne up all hay and stubble built upon the foundation of our most holy faith and lastly to consume all our spirituall sacrifices But non opis est nostrae non opus est nostrum alas it is not my breath will doe it it must bee the blast of Gods holy Spirit that can first kindle and after keepe this sacred fire in the hearth of our hearts To him therefore who descended in the m Act. 2.3 similitude of fiery cloven tongues let us lift up our hearts hands and voices beseeching him to tind and preserve this spirituall fire in our 1 Hearts 2 Eares 3 Tongues 4 Hands that wee may bee zealously affected to Godward in meditating on him in hearing from him in praying to him in doing and suffering for him To knit up all in a word His grace make us sincerely entirely discreetly and constantly zealous 1 Of his gifts 2 In his service 3 For his honour to whom bee ascribed all honour glory c. THE SEASONING OF ALL SPIRITUALL SACRIFICES OR The Salters Text. A Sermon preached before the Company of the Salters at S. Maries Church in Bread-street THE FIFTEENTH SERMON MARKE 9.49 For every one shall bee salted with fire and every sacrifice shall bee salted with salt Right Honourable Right Worshipfull c. THat I may not entertaine your religious attention with a cold or unseasonable discourse I have made choice of a text wherein I finde both fire and salt fire to heat it and salt to season it And if any parcell of Scripture may be appropriated to any of the Worshipfull Societies or Companies of this Honourable City certainly you may challenge a peculiar interest in this For here is both salt and salting from whence you take your name both of men sacrifices The best of all creatures on earth are men and the best of all gifts of men are sacrifices both are made savory and acceptable to God by seasoning they with fire these with salt In relation to the former me thinks as Christ said to Andrew and Peter a Matth. 4.19 Follow me I will make you fishers of men so I heare the holy spirit say to mee Observe this text well and apply it and I will make thee a salter of men for every man must bee salted with fire and as it followeth Every sacrifice must bee salted with salt b Lev. 2.13 Every oblaâ—ion of the meat offering shalt thou season with salt neither shalt thou suffer the covenant of thy God to bee lacking from thy meat offering With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt saith Moses from God Every sacrifice shall bee salted with salt saith Christ from Moses whose drift in this place is somewhat obscure because the sense is covered under the vaile of an Allegory which wee cannot draw without looking up higher into the chapter and touching upon the precedent verses Wherein our Lord threatneth unquenchable fire and an immortall worme to all that for want of the fire of zeale grow cold in religion and for lacke of the salt of grace putrefie in their sins If saith he that person or thing that causes thee to offend either in want of courage for God or of zeale and Christian resolution against thy bosome sinnes and naturall corruptions bee as deare to thee as thine eye or as necessary as thy right hand part with them thou must if it be an eye plucke it out if an hand cut it off and cast it away from thee better
fine brasse will discerne their vaine-glorious pride and stampe them and their Idols to powder To close up this note though not so fit for this quire yet not to be skipt because prickt in the rules of my text let all the Dispencers of Gods holy mysteries by the Apostles example strive in their preaching to winne soules to Christ not applause to themselves to pricke the heart not tickle the eare to leave in their hearers minds a perswasion of their doctrine not opinion of their learning and eloquence that is in the Apostles phrase to esteeme to know nothing save Jesus Christ JESUS d Maâ—t Epigâ— l. 9. Nomen cum rosis violisque natum Quod hyblam sapit atticosque flores Quod nidos olet avis superbae Nomen nectare dulcius beato A name sweeter to the smell of the soule than roses or violets or all the Arabian spices in the Phoenix nest and sweeter also to the taste than the Athenians hony or Nectar it selfe Nothing relished St. Augustine without it Ignatius calleth Jesus his love and onely joy Jesus amor meus crucifixus Jesus my love is crucified This name Jesus was imposed by an Angel e Mat. 1.21 Mat. 1. and acknowledged by the Divel f Act. 19.15 Jesus â—e know Act. 19. and highly advanced by God himself above all names g Phil. 29. A name aboâ—t all names Phil. 2. Three in the old Testament bare this name and they were all types of Christ Jesus Nave or Josua was a type of Christ as a King Jesus in Zechary as a Priest and Jesus the son of Syrach as a Prophet to reveale the secrets of his Fathers wisdome As all Josephs brethrens sheaves rose up did homage to Josephs sheafe so all the attributes of God and other names of our Redeemer after a sort rise up and yeeld a kind of preheminence to this name which the Apostle stileth a g ver 10. a name above all names at which every knee must bow And the reason hereof is evident to all that have yeelding hearts and bending knees and are not like the pillars in the Philistims Temple which were so fast set in their sockets that they needed a Sampson to bow them For there is majesty in God there is independent being in Jehovah there is power in Lord there is unction in Christ there is affinity in Immanuel intercession in Mediator helpe in Advocate but there is h Act. 4.12 salvation in no name under heaven but the name of Jesus Doct. 2 Which may bee taken either as a proper name or as an appellative if it bee taken as a proper name it exhibiteth to the eye of our faith infinity defined immensity circumscribed omnipotency infirme eternity borne that is God incarnate It designeth a single person of a double nature create and increate soveraigne and subject eternall and mortall It is the name of the Sonne of God begotten of a Father without a Mother and borne of a Mother without a Father God of God and Man of woman God sent from God Man sent to man God to save man Man to satisfie God God and Man to reconcile God and man Doct. 3 If the word Jesus be taken appellatively it signifieth Saviour or him that saveth us from 1 The wrath of God 2 The power of Satan 3 The guilt and dominion of sinne 4 The sentence of the law 5 The torments of hell And to know Jesus in this acception is to know a soveraigne salve for every sore of the conscience a remedy against all the diseases of the minde a sanctuary for all offences a shelter from all stormes a supersedeas from all processe and an impregnable fortresse against all the assaults of our ghostly and bodily enemies and can you then blame the Apostle for making so much of the knowledge of Jesus which is also Christ Christ that is anointed a blessed and tender hearted Physitian professing his manner of curing in his name which is by unction not by ustion by salving and plaistering not burning and lancing Vulnera nostra non ustione urans sed unctionâ— To know Christ is to know our King Priest and Prophet For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth a thrice sacred person anointed with oyle above all his brethren and appointed by God Doct. 4 1 A Prophet to us 2 A Priest for us 3 A King over us 1 A Prophet to teach us by his Word 2 A Priest to purge us by his Blood 3 A King to governe us by his Spirit Of Christs propheticall function Moses prophecieth saying i Deut. 18.15 A Prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you like unto me unto him ye shall hearken his Priesthood God confirmeth to him by k Psal 110.4 oath his Kingdome the Angell proclaimeth l Luk. 1.32.33 The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David and hee shall reigne over the house of Jacob for ever and of his Kingdome there shall bee no end Priests were anointed as Aaron by Moses and Prophets as Elizeus by Elias and Kings as Saul by Samuel Christ was therefore thrice anointed as King Priest and Prophet yet is hee not three anointeds but one anointed And it is not unworthy our observation that Christs three functions are not onely mystically figured but also after a sort naturally represented in the oyle wherewith hee was anointed 1 Oyle maketh a cheerefull countenance so doth Christ as a Prophet by preaching the glad tidings of the Gospell unto us 2 Oyle suppleth and cureth wounds so doth Christ as a Priest the wounds of our conscience by anointing them with his blood 3 Oyle hath a predominancy amongst liquors if you powre wine water and oyle into the same vessel the oyle will bee uppermost so Christ as a King is above all creatures and is Soveraigne over men and Angels This his Kingly office typically shined in the Myter of Aaron as his Priesthood was engraven in the Jewels of his breast-plate as for the third office of our Lord his propheticall function it sounded in the golden bels hanging with the pomegranats at the high Priests skirts By this glympse you may see know what it is to know Jesus Christ This Jesus had not bin a Jesus to us if he had not bin Christ that is anointed by God and enabled by his threefold office to accomplish the perfect worke of our redemption neither could Christ have beene our Christ if hee had not beene crucified to satisfie for our sinnes and reconcile us to God his Father by his death upon the crosse therefore the Apostle addeth and him crucified Crucified And so I fall upon my last Note a Note to bee quavered upon with feare and trembling in the Antheme set for Good-friday yet it will not be amisse to tune our voice to it at this time For this is also a Friday and next unto it and in sight of it and wee all know that if there bee many Instruments on a
after what order our Popist Priests are made whether after the order of Aaron or Melchizedek If after the order of Aaron then are they to offer bloudie sacrifices and performe other carnall rites long agoe abrogated if after the order of Melchizedek then they are very happie For then they are to be Kings and Priests then they are not to succeed any other nor any other them then as hath beene shewed they are singular everlasting and royall Priests We may put a like interrogatorie to many of our Brownists or Anabaptisticall Teachers who run before they are sent and answer before they are called being like wandering starres fixed in no certaine course or wilde corne growing where they were not sowne or like unserviceable pieces of Ordnance which flie off before they are discharged If men though endowed with gifts might discharge a Pastorall function or doe the worke of an Evangelist without a lawfull mission St. Pauls question had beene to little purpose u Rom. 10.15 How shall they preach unlesse they be sent What calling have these men ordinarie or extraordinarie If ordinarie where are their orders if extraordinarie where are their miracles If Christ himselfe would not take upon him the Priesthood till he was called thereunto as Aaron what intolerable presumption is it in these not to take but to make their owne commission and to call men by the Gospell without a calling according to the Gospell It is not more unnaturall for a man to beget himselfe than to ordaine himselfe a Priest But because these men will not be ordered by reason I leave them to authority and come to the Sixth observation which is the Prerogative of Christ Obs 6. who was ordained a Priest of Melchizedeks order whereby he was qualified to beare both offices Kingly and Priestly For that Christ alone may execute both charges besides the faire evidence of this Scripture Uzziahs judgement maketh it a ruled case who presuming to burne incense to the Lord incensed the wrath of God against himselfe A rare and singular judgement and worthy perpetuall memorie he who not content to sway the royall Scepter would lay hold on the Censer and discharge both offices was for ever discharged of both and even then when he tooke upon him to cleanse the people was smitten with a foule and unclean x 2 Chr. 26.20 disease So dangerous a thing is it even for Soveraigne Princes the Lords Annointed to encroach upon the Church and assume unto themselves and usurpe Christs prerogative Whereof the Bishops of Roane and Rhemes were bold to bid their Sovereigne Lewis the then French King beware informing him Quod solus Christus fieri potuit Rex Sacerdos that it was the prerogative of Christ alone to beare both offices And Pope y Causab l. de libert Eccles Gratian. dist 96. cum ad verum Nicolas himselfe concurreth with them in judgement When the truth that was Christ saith he was once come after that neither did the Emperour take upon him the Bishops right nor the Bishop usurp the Emperours because the same Mediatour of God and man the man Christ Jesus distinguisheth the offices of each power assigning unto them proper actions to the end that the Bishop which is a souldier of Christ should not wholly intangle himselfe in worldly affaires and againe the Prince which is occupied in earthly matters should not be ruler of divine things viz. the preaching of the Word and administration of the Sacraments To make a medley saith z Syn. â—p Synesius of spirituall and temporall power is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is great difference between the Scepter and the Censer the Chaire of Moses and the Throne of David the tongue of the Minister and the hand of the Magistrate the materiall sword that killeth and the spirituall that quickeneth To the King saith St. a De verb. Esa Chrysostome are the bodies of men committed to the Priest their soules the King pardoneth civill offences and crimes the Priest remitteth the guilt of sinne in the conscience the King compelleth the Priest exhorteth the Kings weapons are outward and materiall the Priests inward and spirituall A like distinction St. b Hieron ad Heliod Rex nolentibus praeest Episcopus volentibus c. Jerome maketh betweene them The King ruleth men though unwilling the Bishop can doe good upon none but those that are willing the King holdeth his subjects in awe with feare and terrour the Priest is appointed for the service of his flocke the King mastereth their bodies with death the Priest preserveth their soules to life But the farthest of any St. c Bern. de consid ad Eugen. Reges gentium dominanturâ—â—s vos non sic aude ergo usurpare aut Dominus Apostolatum aut Apostolicus Dominatum Bernard presseth this point and toucheth Pope Eugenius to the quicke It is the voice of the Lord Kings of the Nations rule over them c. But it shall not be so with you goe to then usurp if thou dare either an Apostleship if thou art a Lord or Lordlike dominion if thou art an Apostle thou art expressely forbid both if thou wilt have both thou shalt lose both But why doe I prosecute this point Doth it concerne any now adayes Doth any one man beare both these offices I answer affirmatively the High-priest at Rome doth For he compasseth his Mitre with a triple Crown and as if he bare this name written upon his thigh King of Kings and Lord of Lords challengeth to himselfe a power to depose Kings and dispose of their Kingdomes Doth any one desire to know who is that man of sinne spoken of by the d 2 Thes 2.3 Apostle who opposeth and exalteth himselfe above all that is called God Let him learne of the Prophet who are called gods Dixi dii estis e Psal 82.6 I have said ye are gods and it will be no matter of great difficultie to point at him who accounteth that hee doth Kings a great honour when he admitteth them to kisse his feet hold his stirrop serve him at table and performe other baser offices prescribed in their booke of ceremonies I can tell you who it was that made the Emperour Henrie the fourth with his Queene and young Prince in extreme frost and snow to waite his leisure three dayes barefooted and in woollen apparell at the gates of Canusium it was Gregory the seventh otherwise called Hildebrand I can shew you who set the Imperiall Crowne upon the head of Henrie the sixt not with his hand but with his foot and with the same foot kicked it off againe saying I have power to make Emperours and unmake them at my pleasure it was Pope Coelestine I can bring good proofe who it was that would not make peace with Frederick the first till in the presence of all the people at the doore of St. Markes Church in Venice the Prince had cast his body flâ—t on the ground and the Pope
24. corruptible man but also of beasts and fowles and creeping things The difference which Cardinall Bellarmine maketh between an Image and an Idoll viz. that an Idoll is the representation of that which hath no existence in nature but an Image the likenesse of something really existent is false and repugnant to Scripture For the Cherubims in the Aâ—ke were Images yet never was there any thing in nature existent in such a forme as they were expressed viz. in the face of a childe with six wings And no man doubteth but that the Image which Aaron made the Nehustan which Hezekiah brake downe Bell and the Dragon Rempham Baal and Dagon were Idols and the worshippers of them Idolaters yet were these figures the representations of things existent in nature viz. of a King a Beast a Serpent a Starre the Sunne and a Fish and therefore what arguments the ancient Fathers Origen Arnobius Lactantius and Minutius Felix use against the Heathenish Idols will serve as strong weapons to knocke downe and batter in pieces all Popish Images What a q Divin instit l. 2. c. 2. Quae igitur amentia est aut ea fingere quae ipsi postmodum timeant aut timere quae finxerint Non ipsos inquiunt timemus sed cos ad quorum imaginem sunt facta quorum nominibus consecrata sunt nempè ideò timetis quod eos esse in coelo arbitramini Neque enim si dii sunt aliter fieri potest cur igitur oculos in coelum non tollitis cur ad parietes ligna lapides potiùs quà m illò spectatis ubi eos esse creditis Hominis imago tum necessaria videtur cùm procul abest supervaâ—uâ— futura cùm praesâ—o adest Dei autem cujus spiritus ac numen ubique dâ—â—â—â—sum aâ—esse nunquam poâ—â—st semper â—â—quâ—mago supervacanâ—a est madnesse is it saith Lactantius either to make that which they ought to feare or to feare that which themselves have made If yee worship the Images for themselves yee are more senslesse and blockish than they for they if they had life and sense as ye have would not suffer you to worship them but themselves would fall downe and worship you their makers But if as some will colour the matter yee worship not the Image but God by the Image why then lift yee not up your eyes to heaven where yee know God sitteth in his majesty why cast yee them downe why in offering up your prayers to him turne yee to a carved stone or painted post The use of an Image is to preserve the memory of those that are dead or absent therefore sith God is alwaies alive and present with us his image is alwaies superfluous And in our devotion to turne to it is all one as if a man in the presence of his friend or a servant in the presence of his master having a message to deliver to him-should turne from him and tell a tale to his picture And is it not a strange thing that sottish men should performe such a deale of respect and ceremony to the image bow downe before it bring presents and burne incense to it and yet all this while make no reckoning at all of the goldsmith whose creature it is Questionlesse there can bee no r Orig lil 8 cont Celsum Simulachra Deo dicanda non sunt fabrorum opera c. visible or bodily image made to resemble the nature of the invisible God but if wee will draw a picture of him it must be in the Å¿ Minutius Felix in dial Deus in nostro dedicandus est pectore quod simulachrum Deo fingam cùm fi recté existimes sit Dei homo ipse simulachrum table of our hearts by expressing his divine vertues and attributes t Lactant. loc supr cit Simulachrum Dei non est illud quod digitis hominis é lapide aut aerâ—â—lâ—â—â—e materiâ fabricatur sed ipse homo quoniam sentit movetur multas magnasque actioneâ— habet Recté Seneca in moral Simulachra deorum venerantur illis supplicant illis per totum assident diâ—m 〈◊〉 â—stant illis stipem jaciunt victimas cedunt cùm haec tantoperé suspiciunt fabros qui illa feceâ—â— contemnunt Is not man himselfe made after Gods image what an incongruity then were it for man to thinke of making or dedicating any other image to God who is it himselfe What abjectnesse and basenesse is it for him who beareth the image of the living God to cast himselfe downe before and adore the images of dead men and women We reade of a barbarous and savage act of a cruell tyrant who bound living men to dead carkasses till the one corrupted the other and both rotted together Is not the cruelty of those Heathen Emperours as barbarous who perforce couple the living images of God the soules of men to dead images to corrupt them thereby Which of these battell-axes is not as serviceable altogether to knocke downe Popish Images as to maule and deface Heathenish Idols And this may suffice for the paralleling of Baalites and Papists in generall as they are Idolaters let us now compare them in speciall 1. As the Papists plead for themselves that they worship not Idols that is the representation of things feigned and devised by man but images of things truly existent so the Baalites might varnish over their idolatry saying that the image they worshipped was not of any feigned deity but of that which all men and women saw which was not only visible but also most glorious to wit the Sunne 2. As the Baalites stood upon the multitude of Baals worshippers and ministers For to one Priest or Prophet of God that durst shew his head they had above foure hundred that followed the Court and had their table there albeit indeed there were more than seven thousand in Israel that never bowed the knee to Baal yet these played least in sight and there were more than seventy times seven thousand in all Israel that for ought appeares either willingly or by constraint bowed to him in like manner the Papists at this day brag of nothing so much as of the multitude of their professours and paucitie or latencie of those especially in former ages that professed the reformed religion or impugned the Roman faith 3. As the priests of Baal called him Baal Samen King or Lord of heaven so doe the superstitious Papists call the blessed Virgin the Queene of heaven 4. As the Baalites erected divers images to Baal which received names from the places where they stood as Bal Peor Baal Zephon Baal Tamar so have the Papists erected divers images to our Lady which they in like manner denominate from the cities where they are set up as the Lady of Loretto the Lady of Sichem the Lady of Mount Seratto the Lady of Hailes Nostre Dame de Paris de Rouen c. 5. As the servitours of Baal were distinguished into